Chicken Coops

[CaptainCanada]

I am planning on getting 3 chickens and i am going to purchase a chicken coop. If you have any ideas on cost effective coops that are also easy to set up. Thank you for helping.

 

[FT Chickens]

Just be careful if you are worried about cost and ease of setup. You will end up with something that is not very sturdy and you will have to replace too soon. If you are serious about having chickens, bite the bullet and spend the money for something of good quality. Better yet construct your own if you have the ability

 

[staceyj]

Welcome!
You’re going to get a lot of comments here.
If you are looking to purchase a “coop kit” think twice.
Most of them are flimsy, only stand up to one or two winters, and are made of poor materials.
And I’m asuming you’re IN Canada because of your name, so you need to consider strength for snow load and warmth as well.

If you do choose a wooden type coop kit please understand the needs of chickens. The manufacturers illustrate their ads and boxes with some kind of sneaky photo magic.
Example: If the box says it holds up to “eight chickens” plan on three, or four chickens MAX.

There are thousands of coops here on BYC’s coop pages.
You should take a look around. Big, small, fancy, simple, and everything in between!
You’d definitely be able to build (or have built) a much better coop for less than you’d spend on a prefab.

 

[FT Chickens]

I am planning on getting 3 chickens and i am going to purchase a chicken coop. If you have any ideas on cost effective coops that are also easy to set up. Thank you for helping.

I also forgot......build bigger than you think you need. Mine is only two months and I am already thinking about expanding it. LOL. Chickens are addicting.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! You will do much better to build a walk-in shed type structure, or get a garden shed and modify it. Prefab coops are usually junk, and too small by far. I agree with everyone here already.
Mary

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

I would second all the suggestions about building a coop over buying something in a kit form. We bought 2 coops, each was supposed to house 4 chickens, and returned them. First of all, they were flimsy and i wondered if they could keep chickens in, let alone keep predators out. The materials seemed like they wouldn't last more than one winter. And, they were way too small. We bought 2 thinking we would somehow put them together to house 8 chickens. We were trying to save money, but it was clear we would need a new coop sooner rather than later. So, we built something. It isn't as "cute" but it is big and safe. The 2 coops we first bought cost about $500 and what we built cost around $1500, but I know we won't have to get a new coop next year, or the year after that or the year after that, etc! It was pretty scary when we finally put the little chicks out there the first night, but I was pretty certain nothing would get them. I would have been terrified with the other coops that we had bought. Sorry this is so long!

 

[blackdog043]

One other thing about prefabs, besides being junk and undersized, if that's what your thinking about. Good and enough ventilation is not usually found on prefabs. You need good ventilation in winter, to prevent frost bite(in cold climates) as well as summer. I would build something or buy a shed and modify it, to a coop. It's not about a cute coop, you need a coop that will protect your chickens from the weather and predators. If you don't have a covered run to keep your food and water out of the coop, you will need room inside for that also.

 

[ronott1]

Lots of plans and ideas here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/chicken-coops.12/

 

[speedy2020]

I have plywood shipping box coop sit on top of 3 pile cement blocks. It works well for the chicken and light on my pocket. I am plan to cover the run this year. If you have time and willing to do the work, there are ton of ideas around. Good Luck!

 

[Tarce123]

One other thing about prefabs, besides being junk and undersized, if that's what your thinking about. Good and enough ventilation is not usually found on prefabs. You need good ventilation in winter, to prevent frost bite(in cold climates) as well as summer. I would build something or buy a shed and modify it, to a coop. It's not about a cute coop, you need a coop that will protect your chickens from the weather and predators. If you don't have a covered run to keep your food and water out of the coop, you will need room inside for that also.

Hi Blackdog - Can you send me a picture of the watering system you have, it looks like something I might need to make, but the photo is too small to tell.