Very nice! I don't see any hardware cloth from the ground part way up the sides to keep critters like coons from reaching in and grabbing a hen. Won't be able to get it out but they will rip the head of a chicken sleeping against the fencing.
First, understand that anyone here poo-pooing only want to save you time and money. $200 is not a huge amount of money. I have no idea how long it takes to assemble all the parts. But if you end up having to spend a lot of money, time and effort "upgrading" it later, you haven't saved anything.
Near as I can tell from the TSC site
- the whole thing is ~6' long, 3' wide and 4' high. They claim 6-8.
Given those dimensions, the coop part is 3'x3'x3' (at the peak which means 2' max at the sides). Measure that 3'x3' footprint out on your kitchen floor understanding that the nest boxes "steal" 1' of it and there really isn't any floor space with the "roosts" only 1" above the cleanout tray. If you have a rainy day with any wind, the chickens may not want to be out in the run and they won't be comfortable in the coop. I don't know about anyone else's chickens but my 16 spend no time at all on the roosts except when they are sleeping at night but they have ~120 sq feet of floor space in the coop and a much larger area inside the barn for their indoor 'run' when they aren't out free ranging.
- A review said it needs to be painted before being used outside, it is only primed.
- You would need to add some sort of lip to the front of the nest boxes. They show a small amount of hay (fake I think) shoved in the back and suggest the hens lay on the flat board in front of it. Nope, those eggs are staged. And, my open nest box originally had dividers about that height but the girls messed with each other and I ended up making them tall enough the birds can't see each other.
- I can't tell but I'm not seeing any ventilation in the coop other than the light gap around the outside egg access door. There might be some in the gable end but there are no pictures of that.
- Look at the chickens in the run under the coop. 12" isn't enough standing room unless you have bantams so the area under the coop isn't overly usable.
- I also see that they put the water under the coop about half way back. The birds can use it there but are you going to remove the ladder and crawl under there daily to fill it?
That totally makes sense. I want to thank everyone for their input without clogging up the forum with a ton of replies, and I've taken everyone's advice to heart and am currently in the process of cancelling my order. While 300 dollars seemed like a good idea, there's no way the coop or run is worth that and it's simply not enough room. Even if I have to put off getting anything for another month, it's better to save my money and invest in a coop that will fulfill my needs completely.
(And maybe I'll ask before spending my money next time! Lol)
