There are cheaper coops out there, trust me! If you're not building, you can find a good one under 200 easily if you look on ebay or just google search. Coop B is very small and the quality of the wood is not good. You're going to have to add coating.
I was thinking the same about Coop B. Have seen that one at a few stores on display and just was not happy with the way it looked.
Coop A looks really nice, it was on display at Sam's Club today but the $300.00 was a bit much. We built our first 2 coops and our quail house. We were actually looking at Coop A being a quail house for our pair, but it is really big for them.
I will continue looking. Just wanted to see if Coop A would be worth the price or not.
I've got one very similar to coop B. Precision Pet Products Hen House. Ours is a gray color though. We got it at Rural King a few years back when we were first thinking of getting into chickens. It was mid-summer and on closeout. Think we paid about $150 for it. Used it as a temporary coop for our five pullets once they outgrew the brooder and were waiting on us to build a real coop. It was sufficient for the 5 young pullets but I'd say 3 laying hens MAX if it is to be a permanent coop and if they will be able to do some free ranging. We had a 12'x12' area fenced in for them to run around in when they weren't out free ranging the yard and woods.
We kept ours and plan to continue to use it as a staging area for young pullets before transitioning them to the main flock. It can also serve as a good quarantine area.
One thing we did do was staple a piece of hardware cloth to the bottom so that it is completely enclosed.
It is not nearly as solid as the real coop we built but for the money and for what we use it for, it was money well spent. I'll probably get the extension for it in a few weeks. That will basically make it look like this.
Below is the coop we built, pic is an in progress shot but gives you an idea. It has a temporary run on the left side that is approximately 15'x15'. That is our first project as soon as the weather gets decent, to build a secure run.
Thanks for the info WYNot! I still think we might get Coop A and just use it for our quail since right now they have no run area. I think it is a good price for them. We have something else that we can build a nice coop from, just have to put a door on it and do some fencing.
This is a current quail pen
Its just 2 crates put together. Have 2 more as well and then we have a pen type thing that a neighbor left at the house they were renting. She was going to use it for a rabbit but never did.
I had a slightly larger version of coop #2 for just a few days. Premade coop are crap. Get a shed and convert it into the coop, so much better on about every level
We have a version of the 2nd coop. Its cheaply made but served the purpose for what we wanted it for. We bought ours on overstock.com for about $156, the prices on their site change, you can sign up for alerts.
We wanted something quick and easy. We are pretty handy people and could have built something a lot studier. We started using it as a brooder in the house, it worked great for about 40-50 chicks for a couple of weeks. We then moved it outside into a 10x10 grow out pen, they all huddle in it at night to sleep. I would definitely suggest not putting it directly on the ground, have something as a barrier between any moisture and the wood, at least if you were to go with the second option.
If you are wanting something long term, I wouldn't suggest the one we got. If you are wanting something transitional or temporary, it should serve its purpose.