FML...the coop we ordered is from a scam company, help!

[ChickenMamaC]

I have 9 Rhode Island Red pullets that roost in a 4' x 5' coop with 10' of roost bars. Make sure the roost bars are at least 12" from any wall. Take the next boxes and make a planter out of it. Put a single 36" wide by 14" tall by 14" deep or larger nest box in the run so it's lower than the coop floor. And I'm assuming like most online coops the roosts are on the floor of the "coop".

If your feed, water and nest box is in the run then that coop is large enough. A link would help...

JT

The nesting box is on the outside. Can't tell how far the roosts are from the wall.

https://overezchickencoop.com/product/medium-over-ez-chicken-coop/

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

The nesting box is on the outside. Can't tell how far the roosts are from the wall.

https://overezchickencoop.com/product/medium-over-ez-chicken-coop/

$900?!! Nine.... HUNDRED dollars?!!!!

*shoots self in the head with finger pistol*

 

[JDN]

Craigslist is how I found this one. They advertise nationwide on CL, take your money, and never ship your coop. Or if you DO get one, it's far from the hand-crafted one you were promised. Junk from China, just like most of them.

I mean find someone that's selling their coop because they don't use it anymore/builds them for spare cash in their backyard.

 

[kwhites634]

We have been waiting & waiting on our coop. The girls are in a temporary coop, which will be too small in a couple weeks. Found out today through some internet sleuthing that we are getting scammed and will likely never get our coop, or if we do, it won'e be as described/ depicted. Argh.

Desperately searching now for a decent coop for 7 chickens. Three will be very large (brahmas). We will have the coop inside a 200 sq ft run.

We spent ~$500 on the original coop that's never coming so that's around my budget.

Any recommendations?

Start gathering up all the free shipping pallets you can lay your hands on & build your own, which will be made of better material than what's in most of the prefabs.

Or spend a little money (literally, compared to what you've already laid out) & build yourself a hoop coop out of 2x4s, a couple sheets of plywood, and some livestock panels. You could build one in a weekend, easy. Stretch a tarp over one end for weather protection, add a couple dog houses from Craigslist, possibly at no cost, feeder & waterer, & you're good to go. There are plans all over, on Youtube & here, for example. You can add nest boxes & roosts later, when you're not facing a time crunch.

 

[JDN]

Question (as I look for coops and/or plans in panic-mode

Do they really need 4 sq ft ea in the coop if it’s only for sleeping? MOST of the year is sunny and dry here, and they will have 200 sq Ft in the run— so 28ish sq ft per chicken.

I’m looking at one that’s about 18 sq ft but it has two roosting bars that run the full length 52.5”, so plenty of roosting space. It has three nesting boxes— okay for 7 chickens?

Thoughts? Thanks for all the advice so far. I’m simultaneously trying to find a suitable coop AND fighting to get my money back. Grrrrrrr....

No. And in the desert, you could tarp half the run and put up roosts and probably be fine, at least til you figure out a better plan. Which is basically a hoop coop. Joel Salatin/Justin Rhodes are similar permaculturists. They live in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast and free range their laying flocks and put them up in tractors, They've both said something like 1 sf per bird is what they use...But the birds put themselves to bed and are out literally til they go to bed.

I used some IBC totes for my coop. $60-$120 on craigslist depending on how clean they are. They sit under the tarp on a table in the coop/run. Similarly I have a 200 sf run.

 

[KikiLeigh02]

Do you have local classifieds instead of Craigs List? I only buy from places that accept Paypal or do Paypal invoices unless I can pay in cash after seeing the item. The hoop coop is a really awesome suggestion!

 

[Michael Propst]

I just bought this one.119.00 on amazon. Pawhut 77” wooden backyard chicken coop kit with nesting box and run.

Commercial coops like that are way over rated for capacity. Most say 4 and I would not put more than 1 in there. Do you have time and ability to build your own. $500 will buy a good amount of lumber and if you can find used lumber even better.

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

What about a local handyman to build you a hoop coop?

 

[bruceha2000]

Argh. So frustrated. $500 later!! Let's hope my bank reverses the charge.

I hope they do, not sure how you prove you will never get what you paid for though.
You can build a pretty darn nice coop for $500. Get a door and windows at a "ReStore" type place for cheap.

So sorry you got a bad deal.

Question (as I look for coops and/or plans in panic-mode

Do they really need 4 sq ft ea in the coop if it’s only for sleeping? MOST of the year is sunny and dry here, and they will have 200 sq Ft in the run— so 28ish sq ft per chicken.

I’m looking at one that’s about 18 sq ft but it has two roosting bars that run the full length 52.5”, so plenty of roosting space. It has three nesting boxes— okay for 7 chickens?

Thoughts? Thanks for all the advice so far. I’m simultaneously trying to find a suitable coop AND fighting to get my money back. Grrrrrrr....

• IF they only sleep in it, never locked in except at night, you need very little space other than the roosts unless the food and water are also in the coop. Then you want at least 2 sq ft per bird.
• 7 birds means 7' (84") of roost minimum. Since that has over 100", all set.
• 3 nesting boxes is plenty for even 15 chickens. The darn things think they should all lay in the same couple of boxes and many don't care that there is already a hen, or two, in the box even when there is an open box right next to it. I currently have 14 layers. 3 open boxes and a 4' long "community box" in the coop, covered cat litter box in the "feed room" that one hen prefers. You would THINK that 4' would be plenty of room for 3 to lay at once. And it is, all crammed into the left side leaving the middle and right side open. I have NEVER found an egg other than on the left side.
• As mentioned, you want to cover the run with shade cloth of some sort in your locale.
• Make the run predator proof and put in an auto door in the coop that opens and closes with the sun. I have a PulletShut, the girls get out of the coop way before I go open the barn. In fact, the 10 week old chicks go out the alpacas' "always open" door and are out in the yard before 6 AM. A couple of last year's chicks go out that door as well though they can't get through the fence to the yard. Not sure why the others from last year don't go out, they certainly did last summer when THEY were "the babies".

 

[SurferchickinSB]

We have been waiting & waiting on our coop. The girls are in a temporary coop, which will be too small in a couple weeks. Found out today through some internet sleuthing that we are getting scammed and will likely never get our coop, or if we do, it won'e be as described/ depicted. Argh.

Desperately searching now for a decent coop for 7 chickens. Three will be very large (brahmas). We will have the coop inside a 200 sq ft run.

We spent ~$500 on the original coop that's never coming so that's around my budget.

Any recommendations?

I saw a shed outside at Home Depot, really nice plastic one that looked very heavy duty and cost about 550.00 It was about 10x10. I built my own, but if I were to do it over, I would buy something like that. Look on their website, I think it is on there.