It THIS coop good for me?

[rpchris]

I agree that it seems to have several design issues. You could "gut" the inside and probably make it work for 3 or 4 hens. My concerns would be the weight and ensuring it doesn't blow over and the legs since they don't appear to be well integrated into the framing. The whole thing could collapse and fall over on wobbly legs.

 

[hydroswiftrob]

That is $200.00 worth of materials in a $458.00 package. If you are not building your own you will have to pay for someone to assemble it. You are also going to have to buy paint and paint it.

Any good handy man in your town could take that picture, build it better and more sturdy, and it would cost you the same. Plus, it would be supporting local business.

 

[Nicole01]

It's very expensive. Our 12x4x8 fully insulated coop with a 22x5x5 welded wire run cost under $500.00 for our 8 chickens with all new materials built by my husband. Your better off buying a shed, large dog house or building your own.

 

[Hawkeye95]

First of all, it's really tiny, and the nest boxes are on the floor- which probably isn't so bad, but the set up of the space doesn't really look ideal. It would have been better to put a double decker nest box on the one side and leave the other side open for roosts. As everyone else pointed out- it has hardly any floor space for your birds. You'll need that floor space in the winter. That is quite a bit of money for such a small building.

I would take that money and go to Lowes and buy a premade building that you can walk into and just convert it. Then you could even get more chickens than just 5.

This one is $558 dollars. It is galvanized steel, it's going to hold up, it's painted, and all you'd have to do is cut out some windows, a vent and a little pop door for them to get out. Plus it's great looking. If this is a little on the pricey side, you can always go with something a bit cheaper- they have sheds as low as $300 that are smaller than this one. Anyway, here is the bigger one.

Edited to Add: I forgot to put in the link where I found it on the Lowes website! Here it is: http://www.lowes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&cId=SEARCH&productId=3169415&cm_mmc=SCE_gps-_-gps-_-gps-_-Arrow%2010ft%20X%208ft%20Red%20Barn%20Shed%20RH108

There are also a bunch of other smaller, cheaper and just as cute pre-made buildings there. Just throw in a couple of nest boxes, screw in a roost... cut your windows and vents. Done!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ohhh, and I found another cute one that is a LOT smaller for $328. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=155409-25-WL65&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3169217&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

This one is a 6 X5 foot shed.. I read back again where you said you only wanted just a few chickens...This shed is really small! THIS would fit them great!

It's not very big, and you'd have enough floor space in the winter and to put your feed and water and to hang your nest boxes and install a roost. Plus you could walk in there easily to clean it out- just use a water hose in the warmer months. Easy to get in there and get chickens if one of them is sick or you just want to check them over.

Wait until you get a coupon for 20% or 30% off your order before you buy it. You can even find these coupons on eBay or ask your neighbors or coworkers to give you one they might have laying around.

 

[Momma on a Mission]

That's a good idea Hawkeye! And I like the look of the smaller shed. hmmmmmm, things to ponder.

 

[pawsplus]

Yeah, search on Craigslist. I got my AWESOME coop for $100. It was located less than 2 miles from me and some local guys moved it for free!

See pix on my BYC page. All I had to do to it was add a pop door and a ladder to reach the upper roosts, and cover the windows over w/ hardware cloth.

 

[billfields]

I suggest investing $12.50 in "Building Chicken Cood For Dummies" (on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Building-Chicken-Coops-Dummies-Brock/dp/0470598964) before you invest a lot more in buying anything. Even if you don't end up building your own coop it can give you a realistic picture of what a coop should cost and some very good ideas as to what might work for you. I did not follow their plans but I did make changes to my own design based on what I read. (a switch from the vinyl roofing to tin for one). And you might even decide to grab a hammer!

 

[ChickenPeep]

Thank you everybody soo much for the advice!! I really appreciate it!