Recommend a "storebought" coop

[swimmer]

Plus you can have built just the way you want it. You could probably show them a picture of something you like and get something close to it. With a fraction of the cost. That is what I did. Saved $$$

 

[gingernutranger]

I would say stick with something local. Search craigslist and see what you can find. If you dont see anything else you like there move onto something online like www.omlet.us or http://HandcraftedCoops.com/

 

[gingernutranger]

http://HandcraftedCoops.com/

 

[HeritageHens]

I had Jon and Cindy Bake build my coop for me since we wanted something we weren't capable of building. While they are in my local area, they will ship the kit to you. Here's a link to their site. Their coops are high quality, made of cedar with a fully enclosed run. We bought the double CoopDeville. The cool thing is that you can customize it so the doors go on any side and the nest boxes can be moved as well. I had mine designed so the enclosed coop opened into the run rather than to the outside. They assembled it on site and it only took 2 hours as they pre-fab in the shop; according to them, the smaller unit takes them less than 1 hour to assemble. It measures 9.5 feet long and 6.5 feet wide. I just gave Jon a layout of where it would be in relationship to our house and we figured out the best location for each panel.

We did make some modifications to it after they left, however. We added 1/2 inch hardware wire (he used 1 inch by 2 inch) up 3 feet and secured all the wire with screws and washers (he used staples). It does not come with a ladder but, rather, a place for the birds to fly up to in order to enter the coop. That may work fine for smaller and lighter birds but I chose not to use that with the chickens I selected, which include a Dark Brahma and Blue Cochin, so we added a ladder.

Here is the model unit:

Here's ours being assembled:

Here's the coop when they left (you can order it stained but we chose to do it ourselves):

And here is our coop today:

 

[drewva]

Quote:
http://HandcraftedCoops.com is the better choice, the Eglu is all plastic and can get very 'ripe'

 

[spacetygrss]

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep them in mind as all of them are much better than me building the coop (NOT gonna happen).

Thanks.