I have one but it's not from Horizon--I had a local Amishman build mine--not much of a savings. I have not even moved my chicks in yet--we just finished painting it. I am planning to house 6 or 7 banties. We also had a run built so they can go outside. When it is completely finished and birds move in, i will post pics.
I don't have one of these but I saw one at an Amish building display. I am trying to remember if it had a wire floor, I am thinking not. At some point you will have to climb in it for some reason, to get a sick chicken, a predator, so ask yourself if you'd mind crawling around inside it. Yes, they are built heavy with a lot of wood but I don't think that is the best thing. I like moving mine around. The price on the one i saw was ridiculous, around $425.
If price is no object then go for it.
Here are pictures of one we built for about $100.
The key elements are home depots discounted lumber
the trash dumpster at Lowes and Tractor Supply, Oops paint from Home Depot, plastic feed bags turned inside out. The whole thing was first covered in leftover mangled wire horse safe fence so that if a predator chewed through the wood or the bags it would then encounter the wire. It is on skids so it can be pushed around by a tractor.
looks nice. I like the nest boxes on the outside. You're in PA and don't think your girls would enjoy the open air coop from AZ. I DO like the price of the AZ coop !! Some of you folks are sooooo creative. You could also go with the AZ type coop and just board it in. Should be able to keep about 8 chicks in it.....,.8x3 = 24 and the coop 6x4 = 24.
Good luck
Liz
Rochester, MA
Thats great that you can build it so cheap, I need to get in with the people who work at HD. I can't even build a small coop without spending at least $200, but I also use hardware cloth which is not cheap. Does anybody know of a similar alternative that might be cheaper? I have yellow rat snake problems so I have to make my coops completely snake proof.
I would clarify whether the 6 x 4 measurement includes the nest boxes, which really is not living space (I notice that a lot of the prebuilt coops advertise a measurement that INCLUDES the nest boxes). I'm only suggesting that so that you know how many bird it could comfortably accomodate. If it's actually 5 x 4, then ideally 5 standards max.
Quote:
4X6 should house 6 standard hens, but i prefer to not go to full capacity so they have extra elbow room.
In winter they spend more time indoors and it can get crowded. I'd try 4 or 5.
I have heard those are very nice coops