Did you ever buy a prefab coop? Give a review!

[Crazy Maizie]

This is the ecoFLEX Fontana Chicken Barn. It is made from a wood polymer blend, and will be rot-proof. It's quite sturdy. Got it from Amazon For about $150. You do have to put it together, pieces fit together like Lincoln Logs. We added door latches and we put mesh in the corner vents. We also put in split log pieces for roosts. I use it for broody hens, as the chicks can go in and out easily. The door doubles as a ramp. We've used it for isolation of an injured bird as well. I've had it 3 years now, completely dry inside, and no sun damage.
I like it a lot but it is very small. If it were your only coop, I'd say 3 or 4 bantams max. 2 Standard size chickens.

• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 34 x 47 x 24.5 inches; 58 Pounds

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I have this only in tan. I originally bought it for a couple of drakes to sleep in. All of my birds have used it in one way or another. My hens (ducks too) love to use the nest box. So, it's still in my run. I've used it for an integration coop as well and it could definitely be used for a sick or injured bird to recoup.
I have moved mine around a lot - rearranging the furniture. It has held up well and I am usually dragging it. It does need latches for the nest box and door to keep it safer. But, I think just about anything that would attempt to pry open the lid, probably would be successful. Mine is in a secure run.
The holes in the corners are the weirdest part. I just don't understand the manufacturer's reasoning for not adding some sort of mesh there even if its supposed to be for drainage when you wash it.
It is easy to put together - and I have little hand strength due to arthritis. That little knob on the door, I replaced with a small bungie cord that has a ball on it. It is easier to grasp. Plus, I didn't get a knob, so yeah you can have missing pieces.
I have kept it in the run because all of my birds continue to use it.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Here's the nest box of the prefab I posted about above. It's so popular, they have to use it at the same time even though they have two nest boxes in the big built coop.

 

[Suzz]

My first coop was a prefab bought by my sisters so I didn’t waste my money it lasted a couple of years but it had to be covered with a metal sheeting supported by poles because it couldn’t withstand any rain at all it got torn apart but I still use the nesting boxes from it in my new homemade coop so it all worked out ok here’s a picture with my silly cat on lookout duty

 

[Raptor Chicken]

Yes I did initially, despite advice from this very site.

It was a TSC coop advertised as being able to house 6 birds.

It was fine when we transferred our 6 chickens from our brooder to the coop. For about a month. Then it was obvious it was entirely too small.

I will say its built well enough but lacks ventilation in a big way. I did try to modify it by adding gable vents but that wasn't nearly enough.

In all reality this coop is suitable for one or maybe two chickens if you adhere to chicken math.

 

[suzrwin]

I have two pre-fabs---an Eglu and a TSC we use(d) as a hospital coop. I like the Eglu, and wish it were bigger bc chicken math is a thing. I do often wonder if Eglu's harsh critics here on the board have ever seen them in person. Additionally, we have a covered run, and rotating free range, so plenty of room to roam as well as be protected from the weather. The TSC is dinky (the same one as in post 44) and was purchased as an emergency item when we had a suddenly injured chicken right before heading out on vacation. No way can that hold more than 2, maybe 3 small chickens.

Although we (Hubs and I) love it, the Eglu is too small for our planned flock addition this spring. Our middle daughter won't be keeping chickens after all, so we are expanding our flock to have eggs for her family, too. So, we just raised the walls of a "Garden Loft" last weekend and are now working on the roof. We had debated having "The Original Chicken Man" build us one, but liked the Garden Loft open air design, and we're both pretty handy.

We'll keep the Eglu to transition new chicks (putting it in the free range field). Also keeping the hospital prefab for that purpose.

 

[fuzzi]

Went to the local Agri Supply store yesterday (like TSC but larger) and saw prefab coops for sale. I know better now, and shuddered to see people considering them.

Measurements are in inches.

Two tiny windows are the only ventilation!

The door felt like balsa wood.

Roosts are less than 2" above a poop board bottom

 

[Suzz]

Went to the local Agri Supply store yesterday (like TSC but larger) and saw prefab coops for sale. I know better now, and shuddered to see people considering them.

Measurements are in inches.
View attachment 3452662
Two tiny windows are the only ventilation!
View attachment 3452663
The door felt like balsa wood.

Roosts are less than 2" above a poop board bottom
View attachment 3452664

$700 thats highway robbery oops $609 thats still highway robbery

 

[GCrumb]

Formex Snap-Lock Big Chicken Coop

We have two, and love them. I did not pay full price, $920 is far too much for me. I bought both of them off craigslist on two separate occassions, one for $250 and one for $160 (and a long drive to a remote little town to get it.)

They pop together easily. They are harder to get apart and seem proof against any predator but a bear. They are a snap to clean.

They are very light which may be good for you 'cause you can move them about, or may mean that you need to build wooden stands and sink posts so the wind doesn't move them about.

People here will consider the vents inadequate. I have no problems but I live in a dry and windy place.

Heavy snow load made the roofs slump once but it's easy to sweep them off. I keep imagining the things will crack in very cold weather but they have not done so. They're both about four years old and look brand new. Low-quality plastic stuff fades and grows brittle in the sun in a year or two.

THEY ARE TINY.

It says the coop will fit twelve standard breed chickens. It is roosting space and nestbox space for twelve standard sized chickens. I have eight and very often they do all bundle into one coop for the night, and yeah, there's enough roost-bar for four more in there, but sometimes they split up and I wonder if there would be problems if they had to sleep cheek to jowl every night. There's no question of leaving them in the coop all day, they need to get out no matter the weather and I'm sure they would even if it was just two per coop.

With a large run that includes 'gazebo' shade and windbreak shelters for daytime hang-outs we're happy. If it was a wet climate I might want something else. Shoveling little paths through the snow in the chicken run so they can walk between the coops and shelters is fun only when you don't have to do it very often, and I don't like it when they go to roost wet after a rare rainy day.

 

[BDutch]

Remember the tiny prefab I got for free from my neighbour who once used it for a broody? And I used it as such 4 years ago too. Its just about 20•20• 20” (50cm3)

I use it now for 2 pullets who aren’t allowed in the coop. The older hens chase the young pullets out to the run every evening.
It’s only a temporary because the run is not as safe as the coop. I put it on a garden chair, made a simple stairway and a roost inside. It has a window on top (roof rotted away) with a piece of reused epdm to cover a bit of the light coming on. The only ventilation is the pop door opening (the door fell off).

Not sophisticated, but it’s okay for the time being. Once again handy to have a prefab for emergencies.

 

[Jenni Hen]

Previously I wrote about the pros and cons of the Eglu and I think I mentioned the lack of control over the ventilation. There are two coops in the run but all eight birds (6 bantams and 2 Shetlands) cram into one Eglu. This summer, the Shetlands were panting at night so I've had to leave the front door wide open or prop open the back door, or both.
The run should be sufficiently secure for this location but I don't like leaving the doors open.