Rank newbie looking for advice ...

Felicitas

Songster
11 Years
Oct 17, 2008
314
6
131
Northern Metro Atlanta, GA USA
Hi,
I've got the chicken bug.
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We'd like to get 4 hens and a rooster. I'm thinking Black Australopes or New Hampshire Reds would be best for us to start with. We live (rent) on a 4-acre property; our immediate area is around an acre and a half. Much of that is fenced. The property bumps up against a national park and we're pretty thick with predators around here - coyotes, raccoons, hawks and the like. The two of us (DH and I) are "OK" with tools and woodworking as long as it is pretty simple, and the thought of building a coop from scratch is pretty daunting. So, with that out of the way -

Has anyone bought a coop from an eBay seller called Albany Pets, based in the UK?

Here's the unit we're looking at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Chicken-coop-He...photoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

The coop looks well-constructed, and even with shipping from the UK it is a bit cheaper than other commercially-made coops found here in the US.

We'd most likely raise it off the ground a foot or so using cinderblocks, and construct a large walk-in run that is predator-proof, since the birds probably won't get more than a few hours of free-range time per week. The run is just within our handyman capabilities and it helps that our landlady owns a post-hole digger and she knows how to use it!

So - does anyone have experience with this seller's products? Does this coop look large enough for the number and size of birds we're thinking of getting? Any other suggestions?
Thanks all
 
Just make sure it's SUPER secure. Maybe depending on budget, Get a 6ft chainlink fence around it with a top, for extra security. The predators you listed are persistant. I thought my raccoons and opossumms were bad! COYOTES would scare me.
 
I have no experience with this seller or any other commercially made/pre-made coops, but I do know that for about $200 we built a 16x4x4 coop. For $175 I'd wager you could build a coop the same size as the one in the ad and make it MUCH nicer. I don't trust other people unless I can see and feel the product before buying, and although my creations don't tend to be as aesthetically appealing they DO hold up and I know there are no gaps or other non predator-proofed places.

The coop looks very nice, and is surprisingly inexpensive. I don't know what the lumber costs are out there, but I know that to make something that nice and only charge that much AND still make a profit throws up some warning flags for me. Makes me think the pics give a little too much credit and/or make it seem larger than it is. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know that with my money I'm very cautious, I don't have much!

BTW:
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I read through some of the specifications, and I thought I might bring this to your attention:

Obviously the first thing you need to arrange is the housing for your birds. As a guide to the size of house needed the general rule is 1 square foot of space per average sized bird & 8" square for bantams

Chickens need AT LEAST 2.5-4 sq ft per bird! Mine have about 3sq ft now that they're almost full grown, and I had them at 2-2.5 when they were still small. 1sq foot is NOT enough per standard chicken, and 8sq inches is NOT enough for bantams!​
 
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OK, thank you so much for the feedback! So, this is one of those "too good to be true" type dealies, I guess. I suppose the best thing to do would be to browse coop designs here on this site, and sketch out something that we might could put together ourselves.
 

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