I need your opinions on Coops! What do you think of prefab coops?

[BDutch]

Most people here only keep prefabs for broodies, Integration, and sick bays.

Not all. I have one for my bantams and extended it years ago after my first chicken math.

I've never seen any last over 2 years.

I have a cheap one that last over 12 years (with a new roof, lid and other alterations/ sort of preservative paint).

I admit I live in a mild climate and we have very few days of freezing cold here. So my bantams dont need a winter-coop.
But it’s true, most prefabs are lousy and I got wiser. So when I wanted a a new coop for my youngest family I bought a children’s playhouse and altered it into a chicken coop.
Better quality for a nice price.

But the family (2 mamas and 3 juveniles) still prefers to sleep in the small coop (made the roosts higher above the nestboxes).
Up till now I only used it to break 2 broodies an unwanted behaviour.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Look harder. It is under the eaves, and there is plenty of it. Maybe read some of the text too, not just look at pictures, on the Nestera website.

e.g. this bit "We at the Poultry Club of Great Britain are reassured Nestera offers a robust, red mite resistant coop with a good ventilation system that can be adjusted to suit the number of birds and weather.

Lee Grant​

Chair, Poultry Club of Great Britain"

Well now that I have my morning coffee I've looked at it again and read and watched the cleaning video and I still didn't see it. I had to look at the Wagon coop and that's where I finally found it. It makes it sound like the penthouse coops only have the little round windows but don't have it under the eaves?
"
Guaranteed Comfort

Adjustable ventilation and excellent thermal insulation offer comfortable temperatures all year round. Two fully-adjustable vents on the rear panel can be opened or closed to varying degrees depending on the weather.

Unlike the other coops in the range, the Wagon features a series of ventilation ridges hidden under the roofline at the front and back to allow a constant airflow through the coop well above your chickens’ heads."

Still not enough ventilation for me. I'm glad it works for you! Would never have looked into the world of plastic coops otherwise so thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Perris]

if you look at the guides https://nestera.co.uk/pages/instruction-guides
you will see the precise shape and size of each panel of each house, e.g. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0577/8472/9740/files/Chicken_House_Large.pdf?v=1671531933
where you will see that one side has semi-circular vents that are adjustable, and the other has crenellations so always allow air flow, whatever the owner does with the vents. I think all the house and lodge coops have these features under the eaves either side, so rain and wind don't blow in, but hot air can exit and fresh air enter.

 

[BDutch]

There are a few hidden places on BYC with prefab reviews

https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/categories/coops-runs-housing.15/

Reviews on 4 prefabs

 

[Perris]

Another, and very valuable aspect of having a small coop like these is that they are mobile and off the ground, so pests and diseases don't build up in the ground, as they do with permanent coops fixed in place. The coop can be moved as often as you like to fresh ground. So no smells either.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I like mine. They absolutely are not as good as they advertise, but I have 4 (3 of one and 1 of another) and they work for my birds. You have to be aware of the personalities though in your flock. Some are much better at the space issues than others. I have a few birds I know won't do well confines in them, and others that do great.

The cleaning trays are awful in my newer model, and the older one is warped after it was blown apart by the wind.

One of the newer ones broke a door really early and another broke part of the roost holder, so it had to be screwed into place.

Would I pay all the money again? Maybe, maybe not. If they had each been $100 less, then likely yes if I'm being honest.

My older model has warped over the years, and was physically blown and tossed around by a strong wind (but all the birds were safe inside, if a bit surprised and alarmed), but it was able to be realigned for the most part and the birds seek quite content now in it.

The broodies love nesting in them. So far I have bloodiest in 3 of the 4 (the 4th would, but it's closed permanently to keep 2 of my old roosters safe from the younger ones)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I like mine. They absolutely are not as good as they advertise, but I have 4 (3 of one and 1 of another) and they work for my birds. You have to be aware of the personalities though in your flock. Some are much better at the space issues than others. I have a few birds I know won't do well confines in them, and others that do great.

The cleaning trays are awful in my newer model, and the older one is warped after it was blown apart by the wind.

One of the newer ones broke a door really early and another broke part of the roost holder, so it had to be screwed into place.

Would I pay all the money again? Maybe, maybe not. If they had each been $100 less, then likely yes if I'm being honest.

My older model has warped over the years, and was physically blown and tossed around by a strong wind (but all the birds were safe inside, if a bit surprised and alarmed), but it was able to be realigned for the most part and the birds seek quite content now in it.

The broodies love nesting in them. So far I have bloodiest in 3 of the 4 (the 4th would, but it's closed permanently to keep 2 of my old roosters safe from the younger ones)

I can try and find my photos of the wind-tossed one if you want to use it for your project. I can get an after image but I'm afraid I don't have many (if any) before images though.

 

[BDutch]

Another, and very valuable aspect of having a small coop like these is that they are mobile and off the ground, so pests and diseases don't build up in the ground, as they do with permanent coops fixed in place. The coop can be moved as often as you like to fresh ground. So no smells either.

Many people in the US and Canada need a large coop to house their chickens comfortable in winter. A small coop is fine in many countries, like in the West and South of Europe, but not where it snows a lot and temperatures get way below 0C for a longer period.

A couple of years back we had a cold winter for 2 weeks. Blocked the cold wind, added straw on the sand floor of the tiny covered run that came with the coop to make it bearable. The chickens stayed inside the small coop as long as the snow and cold lasted. It was okay for 2 weeks, but not for a longer period.

 

[Krugerrand]

I reviewed the Nestera coop here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/nestera-chicken-coop.12115/

It seems many of the haters generalize from their single first (bad) experience of a cheap plastic coop. That's a bit like generalizing about all cars on the basis of driving a Trabant.

Trabant .... ha! thank you for bringing that back into my mind.

 

[bsshog40]

We only have 4 RIR chickens, no plans for anymore, so we bought a TS special prefab. They've only been in it for 6 months now and it's holding up just fine. Of course I did do a couple things to it before adding the chickens. I thompson weather sealed the entire coop wood. I also sealed the cheap roof with Asphalt sealer and then siliconed every gap I could find. I then secured the roosting bar down with screws and also added lips to the nesting boxes. Predators are not a problem as it sits in a 10x10 dog pen. I also put in another pen attached to it for more run room. That is covered with 1/2" hard wire cloth. I domed the dog pen with pvc to make an arch for rain runoff. Hopefully it will last long enough to build a better coop one day.