My Coop is done....With PICS

[nasr69]

Hi
Here is my TSC coop with the additions. Any suggestions would be appreciated! The run size is 12 foot ( well 11ft 9 inch) x 40 inch. I have right now 6 chicks but 1 is a Roo and will have to be re- homed.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Well crap. I was planning on giving it a few coats of vinyl paint and caulking any obvious weak spots, plus mounting the whole thing on pressure treated 4x4s. I live in Chicago so there is plenty of everything weather wise. Where did yours leak- like the sides or roof?

Hi. I have this same coop. The op added a run extension as that isn't included. We made our own. I have had mine since the end of Oct. I think what has helped mine survive so far is that I used Thompson's water seal on it. We also used roofing caulk at the seams where the roof met the frame. In addition I added eye screws and carabiners to reinforce the locks. I have 4 full size chickens in it. Their food and water are outside the coop in the run. I bought a pvc chicken feeder so that it wouldn't take up as much space.
There are a few spots my coop leaks, but it depends on the direction of the wind and rain. It leaks inside the side door if the rain hits it just right. For the winter, I put plastic up around the portion under the coop for a wind break. I am leaving it to keep the area dry during times when it is raining. It also sits up off the ground on landscape pavers. Oh and we reinforced the hw cloth with more hw cloth. Anyway, just wanted to say, that if it is in an area sheltered and with the right care, it could last. We are in the middle of building a new coop with scraps around the farm. However, it is definitely a process especially if you don't know what you are doing. But, even with the mistakes we have made, the built coop is 400 times stronger than the prefab.
@Kuntry Klucker has a whole village of prefabs. She likes them well enough. Take a look at her article and profile.

 

[Cloudlover]

Well crap. I was planning on giving it a few coats of vinyl paint and caulking any obvious weak spots, plus mounting the whole thing on pressure treated 4x4s. I live in Chicago so there is plenty of everything weather wise. Where did yours leak- like the sides or roof?

 

[Cloudlover]

Yeah I know That's sort of the problem, I don't have access or skills for power tools or a truck to haul lumber, haha. I priced out building a coop from scratch (with new materials because I didn't know how long it would take me to acquire scrap) and it was over $600 not including the labor I'd need to pay someone to actually build it. I still want to build my own after allowing time to gather stuff without paying a ton up front but with the weather we've been having there is no way it was going to happen in 6 weeks. The other frustrating part is is I don't even think I can buy a second hand or locally made pre-built coop because anything already constructed will be impossible to get into my totally fenced in back yard. Like I would need a crane to lift something over my 6ft wooden fence or I'd have to take the whole thing apart! Oy! Thanks for listening to my conundrum! I'm already got the thing in my basement so I'm just going to do the best I can with it and see what happens.

 

[Cloudlover]

I think I saw some of your posts in another thread- so helpful! I'm going to do basically everything you said you did which will hopefully buy me time to build a better coop. I can't let chicken math win because I'm in a city lot so I've got to stay sane or else the entire lot is going to be a chicken yard, haha.

Which thompsons did you use? I was sort of dumbstruck by the options and grabbed a sealant but the can said it needed a special pre-wash and I wasn't sure how that was going to work- so maybe I grabbed the wrong thing. I am hopeless when it comes to anything construction related!

 

[Cloudlover]

That’s the one I wanted but they won’t deliver it and I have no way to get it (would need to rent a truck and drive to Indiana, lol). I’m planning on removing all but one of the nesting boxes in the one I’ve got and mounting the roosting bars higher and at different angles to maximize space. I might even take the nests out completely and bolt one or two on the outside of the coop area. I’m also waffling on just ordering the one that’s like the next size up (the green walk in) but I’m mostly nervous about the visual footprint of that thing in the yard. I’m literally in the city with neighbors right next door and I want to keep to coop as attractive and low profile as possible. I’m torn between adding a low extension to the run and securing everything so the chickens have basically 24/7 access to the run OR just running a chicken wire fence around the whole coop/run combo and letting them out into that “yard” during the day locking them back into the structure at night. I can’t let them free range in my yard because they would turn it into a mud pit in about an hour, haha.

I’m attaching pictures of the Thompson’s I bought and also the corner of the yard I’m planning to set everything up. There’s a lily bed there now under a giant mulberry tree but that tree basically shades most of the yard so those lilies don’t thrive anymore, so pulling them out is fine. Thank you so much for all the insight!

 

[Cloudlover]

I am now sort of derailing this original convo but your comment about that producer's pride coop got me looking on TSC again and I looked more closely at this one- https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-hill-country-coop

The run is too small, but I'm realizing if I end up doing my original idea of putting a larger run/yard around the other coop anyway, then I may as well just get that "Hill Country" coop since it's a good bit bigger (the coop part) than the innovation pet one. I'm realizing that the hardest part to all of this for me is going to be building the coop, the run would be the easy part. And I don't think that Hill Country coop is going to require as much rigging as the other one to make it a happy spot for 4 hens! I wish I could find more real-life reviews of it!

 

[Cloudlover]

I almost got that one for my ducks. I think the producer price coops seem better constructed and the roosts are up higher.

Exactly! That's what I am gathering from real-life reviews. I also like that the one side opens completely for easy clean up. Seems like it would be easy enough to elevate on some bricks or even a platform and create additional run space underneath. Like there are actually more configuration options with that one, especially if i have to relocate it or something at some point. The more I talk through my coop-craze with friends, the more who are coming out the woodwork (pun intended!) who have some kind of construction skills. I never would have imagined I'd have spent this much time worrying about my baby's first house!

 

[sphillips]

I bought a Prod Pride Walk In Prairie Coop almost 2 months ago for my 6 Red Production hens. Painted it inside and out with good quality exterior latex paint. Added ventilation, beefed up hardware and my husband added a 2x4 base. Secured it I. The ground with 4' long rebar stakes pounded in. We sealed any obvious issues with the house itself (was is good shape for the most part.) So far its holding up well, but it is super dry where we live. I wouldn't say its quite big enough for 6 hens. Bought a Innovation Pet coop from TSC. Much bigger, plenty enough for 6 hens. My 6 bantams will go in the smaller one. They do have an attached larger run and will free range. The Innovation Pet coop is ok, but definitely not as good quality as the Producers Pride.

 

[sphillips]

Here are pics of the first coop. We added more ventilation and raised the roosts up higher.