Coop has a coop!

[Coop's Coop]

Hello all!
My soon to be 12 yo son has been inspired by his science class who incubated some eggs. He fell in love with chicks, is a super responsible and kind little guy and made his case to raise a couple of egg laying hens ( or maybe 4 if he gets what he wants for his birthday...Silkies!). He bought a Buff Brahma and a Speckled Sussex hen chicks and is taking great care of them so far. It's day 5. Geez are they cute! His next step is picking out a pre made, appropriately sized, affordable coop online. We are in an urban subdivision, but the hens will have a little organic herb and veggie garden as well as a patch of grass and a wood chip area to free range on daily. We plan on buying a 2-4 hen coop and adding on additional outside run space. This is SoCal so we don't need to worry about too much rain and definitely not cold weather. So I'm hoping that you have some recommendations for the coop for him. What do you experts recommend for a prefab coop that he can order online? 4 hens will be his absolute max. His budget is $250. Thanks!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy for you and your son's new adventure and that you've decided to share it with us A word about pre-made coops and advertising. They're often rated to hold way too many birds. Figure about 4-5 sq feet per bird for the coop and 10 sq ft for the run. So 4 birds, I'd look for about 20 sq ft. I'll leave it to others to suggest which ones are decent and which are bad. Again welcome and thanks for joining us.

 

[makmm]

If you are handy even a little bit or want a learning experience for you’ve little son you can make one for way cheaper than you can buy one. It doesn’t,t have to be perfect. The premade ones in my mind are very chinsy for the price. But that’s my opinion. I know not very helpful.

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Coop’s Coop Welcome!

I ‘battled’ with a “pre-made” coop which became two pre-made coops joined together for a couple of years and then gave up and built one.

I agree that pre-made coops are not ideal and definitely do not house the number of chickens they say they do. General rule of thumb is to half the amount of chickens the coops reportedly accommodate.

Having said that, they do serve a purpose for a short amount of time and can be handy for those just starting out if you ensure you get one big enough.

If your son continues his love of chickens and you get the bug also plus the risk of chicken math kicking in, you can then look at building something bigger, buying something bigger second-hand or even converting a shed etc.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. It is great that you can share this experience with your son.

 

[N F C]

In the Review section several pre-made coops have been written about by members that have/had them:coops-runs-housing.15

If you find one that meets your current needs, you may well find they are more expensive than the budget allows. For $250 I'd recommend checking out some of the ideas other members have come up with for coops using things such as pallets, plastic play houses or garden sheds...things that are sturdy and can be modified to make them suitable for chickens. You can post a question on the Coop/Run forum to get ideas and examples on how to make a budget-minded coop for the birds:coop-run-design-construction-maintenance.9

Best of luck to your son with his flock!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. You have some great advice above, so I'll just say a big hello

 

[drumstick diva]

Often coops are offered reasonably on Craig's list. Sometimes with flock included, feed, bowls etc. People get chickens on a whim, decide it's not for them and they becomes someone else's bargain.

Chickens do need a well ventilated coop, and to be safe from predators, inclement weather etc. in order to be do well and be well.

 

[Coop's Coop]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy for you and your son's new adventure and that you've decided to share it with us A word about pre-made coops and advertising. They're often rated to hold way too many birds. Figure about 4-5 sq feet per bird for the coop and 10 sq ft for the run. So 4 birds, I'd look for about 20 sq ft. I'll leave it to others to suggest which ones are decent and which are bad. Again welcome and thanks for joining us.

Thanks for the welcome and advice!

 

[Coop's Coop]

If you are handy even a little bit or want a learning experience for you’ve little son you can make one for way cheaper than you can buy one. It doesn’t,t have to be perfect. The premade ones in my mind are very chinsy for the price. But that’s my opinion. I know not very helpful.

Yes it does seem that the materials on prefab and not too expensive coops are flimsy. I don't know if we are handy enough and will be fast enough to make one in a month though so I'm on the hunt. At least my son can put it together! That's almost building! Lol!