Does anyone have EZ Clean Coop experience??? Please give opinions!!

[keeko]

Hello all!
My babies are scheduled to arrive TOMORROW! EEP. I have a coop already, but I'm discovering some design flaws, and don't think it's quite big enough for my big girls (I got all heavy, standard breeds).

I've been looking at pre-made, pre-fab, pre-built whatever you wanna call 'em coops. Particularly EZ Clean Coops (http://www.ezcleancoops.com/Home.aspx). Does anyone have experience with their coops? What is the quality like? I was also considering the Amish built coops at Horizon structures...who would recommend them? They're all very expensive, but I'm not being modest when I say I have absolutely ZERO handyman skills...so buying is really our option!

Any help or direction you could give would be most appreciated!! Thanks guys!!

 

[Mahonri]

Their largest coop will only hold 6 hens.

 

[rncmomx2]

I have a friend that wanted one but could not afford the price, we built her one (by looking at the pics) and she loves it. We did not change a thing, everything is the same-in the same place.

In my experience does not matter how much room you pamper your chicks with unless they are kept in the coop 24/7 and never allowed out they will cram 12 chickens on one roost 6 foot wide. Coops are meant to be slept in not LIVED in all the time. We have a 12 x 12 coop and about 40 foot of roost, they choose to get on this one roost that is barely 7 foot wide and there is 14 of them-It sags in the middle but they seem happy. They are only in there when they sleep so the rest of the 12 x 12 goes to waste.

 

[Tala]

I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to be dumping that litter tray all the time......
I have a coop that's big enough to walk into and I use "deep litter" so basically to clean my coop every week I go in with a garden rake and stir stuff up a bit (the chickens also stir it up) and about once a month I add a 40# bag of pine pellet bedding under the roost.

I much prefer the rake over the litter tray idea - it's so easy!

 

[chookchick]

How many chicks do you have? Most of those pre-fab coops only comfortably hold a few (3-4) chickens despite what they say. Do you know anyone that has handyman skills? Could you go to home depot or whatever and get a referral to someone to put together a shed kit? Ask around, I'm sure you could do much better....

 

[Anny]

If you want prefab I think it's often better to get a shed, and convert it to a coop. Not to much building involved and it's normally cheaper and larger. You can often find cheap second hand sheds on Craigslist as well (if you have a way to move them)

 

[elmo]

Quote:
To each, his or her own! I built my own coop copying some of Ez-Clean coops' design ideas (pictures on my BYC page). One whole wall opens up, and I put a boot tray under the roost to catch the nighttime poops. Each morning, I pull out the boot tray, bring it over to my composter, dump out the contents, then hose off the tray. Takes me three minutes. My coop is as clean and pristine as the first day it was built, and I have no spring cleaning to face.

 

[keeko]

very cool coop, elmo!

the ease of cleaning was certainly one of the biggest draws of this coop for me... i really do like the idea of having the manure contained and easy to manage. also helps because people around here do like to buy manure for their gardens and crops. hope i'm not getting ahead of myself, but i certainly couldn't use ALL that chicken poo...

thanks for the feedback on your experience with the coop! as i said before, i have zero handyman skills, and no tools. converting a shed at this point is sadly not in my reach. we just moved from new york city (so no tools to speak of!), and are in a new town with no "handy" friends. you could say the chickens are our first friends here

anyone else have experience with EZ clean coops or emulated the design for their coops? what are your pros/cons?
thanks again!!