Is this a decent coop?

[MEP2013]

Hi! I am brand new to owning chickens. I had ducks as a kid but that was about 30 years ago. Anyway, I live in New England and we live in a very wooded area with lots of coyote, fisher cats, raccoons, etc.
My husband and I are completely disagreeing on the size of coop we need. I finally found one that I believe is a good compromise of size and price. We have 3 austorlorp chicks and 3 Easter Eggers chicks. Can anyone tell me if this coop is a good one?
Thank you so much for any input or advice!

http://t.tractorsupply.com/product__10151_-1_10001_254548#desc-tab

 

[Judy]

Welcome to our forum! For some reason that link won't scroll so I'm left guessing. It looks like it is typical of prefab coops that usually only hold half of the chickens they say they hold, if that. That sort of thing is usually not well built and will require even more investment to reserve the wood, so that you wind up spending the cost or most of the cost of a good, functional coop on what will be useful for things like a broody pen or to brood chicks til they are adult size. Since you are in a snow area, they will need a roofed run and/or a larger indoor space to be content, becausse they won't want to spend much if any time on snow.

Please check out the first two links in my signature line for two excellent articles about coops in cold weather areas, written some years ago by a Canadian. Also please check out this excellent article on space:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need

If you cannot build your own shed and modify it into a coop, your best bet is probably to find one on Craig's list. You might see if anyone in your area will build small projects for a reasonable fee. Another approach, less economical, is to check out sheds at Home Depot type stores. To make most sheds into a functional coop, the only absolute necessity is some means of ventilation. You can make a roost out of fat branches or 2x4's on their side, and nest boxes can be as simpe as milk crates on the floor with a little hay in them. Two nest boxes will be plenty.

Good luck!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I agree with Judy.

It states in the specs that the run is only about 2'x3' and just 22 inches high.

I would NOT recommend this as a home for chickens, not even for just 2 chickens.

I looked it up through TSC's website and yes it is the cheap materials for TOP TOP TOP dollar. Also very undersized.
For the cost you could build a much stronger and larger structure or get something off Craigslist and modify.

How about something like this...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-palace

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coop-build

4x8 would work for 6 chickens with room for food and water inside. It is easier to build since dimensional lumber is already sold in this size.
It would take (if making it tall) 6 pieces of siding or about 180 dollars tops for the siding and about another 150 in other lumber and supplies. (windows not factored in) I made my windows out of the pieces we cut out.
You can see the north window is a solid piece of siding with a frame around it here.

I made other windows using some smoked lexan I had laying around. Home Depot sells piano hinges for about 16 dollars for a 8 foot hinge. I cut it to size and there it is.

 

[PapaChaz]

I agree with Judy.

It states in the specs that the run is only about 2'x3' and just 22 inches high.

I would NOT recommend this as a home for chickens, not even for just 2 chickens.

I looked it up through TSC's website and yes it is the cheap materials for TOP TOP TOP dollar. Also very undersized.
For the cost you could build a much stronger and larger structure or get something off Craigslist and modify.

How about something like this...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-palace

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coop-build

4x8 would work for 6 chickens with room for food and water inside. It is easier to build since dimensional lumber is already sold in this size.
It would take (if making it tall) 6 pieces of siding or about 180 dollars tops for the siding and about another 150 in other lumber and supplies. (windows not factored in) I made my windows out of the pieces we cut out.
You can see the north window is a solid piece of siding with a frame around it here.

I made other windows using some smoked lexan I had laying around. Home Depot sells piano hinges for about 16 dollars for a 8 foot hinge. I cut it to size and there it is.

something else too, if you only do 4' walls, you can have the big box store cut the siding sheets in half and you don't need six, you'd only need 4. And you'd have enough left off the two end pieces to use for next box dividers or if planned out right, even built the nest box. Something similar to what I did on a previous coop:


however that one was 6x8 instead of 4x8, but it would be easy peasy to adjust it to only 4 ft wide

 

[PapaChaz]

I agree with Judy also BTW, I tried to scroll and look at the pics and there were none? Also, be wary when reading 'reviews' on products on a website, there are people or 'companies' who hire themselves out to write good reviews on products. You can pretty much tell which ones those are when it reads something along the lines of 'oh yes, we put six chickens in this coop and there was plenty of room for more'......

When I see these type descriptions on prebuilt coops I immediately think clown car at the circus, sure all those clowns got in that car, bet they really didn't want a very long commute though......

 

[MEP2013]

Thank you all so much for the information. After reading these replies we decided to load up the kids and go hunting for a coop. We drove all over creation and of course ended up finding the perfect coop at our last stop 10 minutes from our house (the way it always goes). It's a 4x6 with 4 nesting boxes. We do need to buy new latches for it and we need to build a run but we actually spent less then we were expecting so that's no problem. We are very happy with our new home for our girls! I really appreciate all the feed back so we didn't buy that other coop.
We are also thinking we may build a bigger one as an end of the summer project too, we'll see though.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am so glad you passed on that other coop too. I was at out local feed store today and thought of you as I looked that very model over. I am only 5'4" tall and it did not even stand tall enough to reach my armpits.
Really sad how they sell things like that to the innocent shopper.
They had one inside that was even smaller and said it could hold 5 laying hens. The run was under the coop and only 2.5x3 feet. No floor in the coop which is a good thing since the run would have only been 1 foot high if there was one.

Post pics of the before during and after so folks that are looking for something can be inspired by you.