Pre-made Online/store bought coops?

[kelsey1314]

Does anyone find it worth while it buy a pre-made coop? My boyfriend is currently deployed overseas and I am pretty clueless when it comes to any form of construction, so I feel as though it will be a major failure to attempt to build a coop on my own! Any suggestions on any coops? I am looking to house 2-4 girls

 

[Trefoil]

Craigslist is your best bet. Pre made coops are,in my experience, very cheaply made, not predator or weather proof, and very expensive for what you are getting. Look for 1. hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. 2. heavy enough construction to withstand coons and large dogs (of the two coons are the hardest) and #3. size

 

[luvmychixandducks]

I found a 4x4 coop on Craigslist for $60. and it did need some modifications like adding window and a chicken door but can't beat the price and it is solid.
First buyer backed out calling it too heavy but I moved it myself with a small landscape trailer and a come along and I was 65 at the time.
I agree with Trefoil, some of the kit coops are junk but if you take your time you can build/convert some existing structures into good functioning chicken housing.
Examples :
Little Tykes plastic cabin or childrens plastic playhouses make functioning coops by adding hardware cloth - not chicken wire - over the window openings.
I saw a nice coop made from a childs backyard jungle jim wooden play structure - the top got boarded in as coop area and the bottom legs when wired up made a fine pen. Just needed a ramp to get chickens from upside to ground floor wire area.
Shipping crates give you a good start for the number of girls you wrote about - 2 to 4 .
A chest of drawers with the draws removed and a wire door attached by a leather hinge made a great temporary coop for a dozen little chicks right out of the brooder years ago. Got it off the street.
Let us know what you come up with.
Chickens are not fussy - just want to be safe and comfortable.
I got a free doghouse from Craigslist and used it as my duckhouse - connected it to a kennel run also free and ducks were dry and safe until someone decided to free range them. ( not me).

 

[curious chickee]

Craiglist had custom built coops, better priced than store bought for amount of room. Most coops online are too small even for a few hens. May say holds 4-6 but really about 2 hens would be comfortable.

 

[sarahandjay]

Craiglist had custom built coops, better priced than store bought for amount of room. Most coops online are too small even for a few hens. May say holds 4-6 but really about 2 hens would be comfortable.

x2

 

[kelsey1314]

Thank you everyone! I've decided to just wait til he is home so he can build something!