purchase a prefab coop for 6-8 chickens

[moniquem]

I purchased the medium one of these last spring, living space is about 4X4'.

https://overezchickencoop.com/.

These are well built, easy to put together but......even though it says it holds up to 10 chickens, I have 3 full size, large girls in there and it was tight during the winter. It was a floor sample and missing the little ramp, which I didn't mind and on sale, $400.00. This spring I'm starting a new coop which will be 4X8'

 

[gtaus]

so i have no desire to design and build a coop. i just want to buy a kit from one of these prefab deals for now. we just got 6 chicks (5 days old), they are inside now till they are ready but i do want to go ahead and start planning. They are 2 leghorns, 2 barred rocks, and 2 americanas. now there is a chance that if 1 or 2 don't make it then we might get another 4 chicks later, but never any more than 8. I am desperate for a good recommendation for a prefab unit i can purchase and build. any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you so much in advance.

The prefab kits that are sold locally at the farm stores might look nice, but typically they don't hold more than 3 grown hens. If you go by the 4 sq feet per adult bird in the coop, you can see these prefab coops are not built for many birds. Since your chicks are only 5 days old, you still have plenty of time to look around for other options.

Where I live, there is a guy who builds sheds, and chicken coops, and will deliver them to your house and set it up for you. If you don't want to build your own coop, then I would suggest looking around for someone who does build coops and look at what he sells.

I built my own coop, but it is not something I would necessarily recommend. I think my experience was typical for those DIY chicken coop projects. I spent about $700 out of pocket, but that did not include any price on my labor, tools, supplies I had on hand, and most of the wood I reused from another project. And in the end I needed to buy a used pickup to move the coop to the backyard. Here is my story on my DIY coop build.

In the end, I am very happy with my coop build and would attempt to steer you away from the prefab coop kits which I think only comfortably house 3 grown chickens. Better to even get a yard shed and convert it to a coop. If you ever stop raising chickens, you still have a nice shed.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Have to agree with the other poster prefabs tend to be less than what they say
I after almost 6 year old coop looking at home depot sheds I can refit for the birds my coop now has not floor I do not believe my birds would forgive me if I changed that

 

[rosemarythyme]

I was also going to suggest finding a local builder (shed or preferably coop builder) but you would save some money if you have some ability to put things together yourself, simply due to labor costs. I've seen some very nice locally made coops that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to someone looking for a coop that's ready to go, but costwise they're no cheaper than a quality shed.

 

[mountainchickens]

It does depend on your budget - if you're in the US though I'd check out https://www.urbannorthern.com/. I've never purchased one and they are pretty expensive but you might want to consider them. (Also as others have said, prefab coops never fit the number they say they can fit) It also depends if you want to free-range or not. If you don't free range, I would definitely expand the run on a prefab. And I agree a shed is also a good idea. Good luck

 

[nettech864]

I Fell into the trap of the prefab coops that stated for 6-8 chickens. All too quickly i found out that my 6 was quickly out growing the coop. Luckily i work for a truss company designing trusses. i designed a 8x16 run with a 4x8 raised coop. here is a picture.