Recommended prebuild/prefab coops/sites

[wrathsfarm]

Here's one in your area for sale... Only 24 SQ ft but it's a start for super quick coop..

https://fayetteville.craigslist.org/for/d/shannon-shabby-chick-style-chicken-coop/7727222669.html

Edited.. I re read the add. They build coops

 

[Rosekitten]

Here's one in your area for sale... Only 24 SQ ft but it's a start for super quick coop..

https://fayetteville.craigslist.org/for/d/shannon-shabby-chick-style-chicken-coop/7727222669.html

Edited.. I re read the add. They build coops

Actually I was chatting with the person who makes those, they take down old sheds and bards and reuse what wood is still viable after sanding, washing and retreating.


In the midst of trying to figure dimensions that I'll need for a starter group of 4-6 chickens and leaving room to rotate new chicks in/hatch them down the road.

 

[Rosekitten]

A couple other options for you to consider.
Have you tried some local construction companies? With spring not quite in full swing a lot of company's are not in full swing and may be willing to bang out a quick shed style coop for you.

Another is your local craigslist, facebook. Your want a 'handyman' looking for work. At craigslist look in 'Services' section, look in 'skilled trade services'. Here's one I found in my area in a quick search..
View attachment 3775095
If you find the right one that has chickens.... Bonus
Just gotta ask for a lean-to style shed build and then go in to your finish details, ventilation, roosts, nestboxes etc. if their interested.
A quick 8 x 6 coop build would give you a little extra for your 10 birds at 48 sqft, 8 x 8 even better at 64 sqft... Whatever your budget allows.

An additional note... DO NOT pay in full, up front. Usually 1/2 down or price of materials is standard in construction to start. Check their references and ask for pics of work completed.
Lots of good guys out there looking for work...
You could also post a wanted ad, btw.
Good luck to you...

Yeah I've been asking around, I get tossed names of people from others but half the time I've been unanswered or what they asked I may as well go order from California coops and pay in full over there haha.. (they are super pricey but also have all the bells and whistles with the feeder systems and what not haha)

I didn't think it'd be difficult to find someone to build a lean to style coop/run for a relatively small flock of chickens. xD boy have I been wrong.

 

[fuzzi]

I'm not sure that buying a shed from Home Depot, Lowes, etc will be any more difficult to assemble than what you linked to above. I'm sure some of those can be delivered assembled, too. Then, you're only looking at making some modifications. Or you may be able to find a local shed builder and explain the need for large overhangs and lots and lots of ventilation on the top.

Another thought ... if you're after eggs, chicken egg production slows down considerably after a year or two. If you want to maintain steady production, you're best to stagger adding new chickens every few years until you build up to what you want. But, introducing new chickens into a flock takes a good deal of space.

Unless you buy a shed or hire a shed builder, I would strongly recommend you check out some of these:
@fuzzi did a great job on a first build doing a hoop coop.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/page-56#post-26819925

Blooie's run does not even use a base frame. That's how I built my run ... just with T-Posts holding it in place.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/motel-chix.67240/

Depending on how hot it gets in Rockingham, you may not even need a fully enclosed 'coop.' A big enough run that's fully secured could do the trick.

If you're lookin to move in 5 years, I would think a simple somewhat open hoop coop (partially roofed with tarps) held down by T-Posts rather than a frame and you have something really simple and cost efficient. Then, when you move and build something else, you can pull it up and use it as a run at the new place. Look at what fuzzi did (also in NC)

Thank you, kindly.

@Rosekitten I am also in NC, east of Raleigh. I was going to make a traditional wooden coop out of pallet wood, but I am in my 60s, small, not experienced in building, and my dh is disabled. The hoop coop I eventually built I did almost entirely by myself with a drill, hammer, and a few cuts with a circular saw.

I learned so much with my build.

@Krugerrand has already linked my thread, but there's a timeline list with links on my signature.

Here's my Hoop Coop build timeline:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/post-27236743

A hoop coop is SO doable.

 

[triciayoung]

So after a lot of discussion and being in a small town and not having a selection of handy craft builders in our area to work with for building a coop (and our lack of knowledge and not wanting to take a year to try and figure out building a coop from the ground up having never built anything).

Looking for recommendations on sites to look over for coops. The idea currently is 6-10 chicken size coop.

I found chicken coop company and they seemed pretty solid but I wanted to ask here. I do like Roost and root but they are a little out of budget and seem on the small side for the price to say the least.

I know most will tell me build my own but I've been putting off getting chickens for 5 years now (I joined this site about 5 years ago and have done nothing but lurk and ask questions over the years, I used to own chickens when I lived up in MD but that was many years ago and I want to go back to being a chicken keeper now heh). But I think our best option is to pay a bit extra for a prebuilt we can put together, learn from that and when we move 4-5 years down the road to hopefully the acers we want to buy.. we'll be more ready for building our own then.


I was also recommended the the producer's pride coop from tractor supply, but I'm sure there are better options than that one?

Producer's pride - TSC
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-guardian-chicken-coop-14-chicken-capacity
Chicken Coop Company
https://www.chickencoopcompany.com/...p-designs/products/the-rhode-island-homestead

Go on Facebook marketplace and buy a used wood shed. Add ventilation, then cover the holes securely with hardware cloth. Add roosting bars, nesting boxes, and a chicken door. Then get T posts, and welded steel fencing and put up a fence, Then cover the fence with 1/2 hardware cloth and at the bottom, secure it then run on the ground 18-inches. Cover the run with what is needed based on predators.

 

[fuzzi]

Thank you, kindly.

@Rosekitten I am also in NC, east of Raleigh. I was going to make a traditional wooden coop out of pallet wood, but I am in my 60s, small, not experienced in building, and my dh is disabled. The hoop coop I eventually built I did almost entirely by myself with a drill, hammer, and a few cuts with a circular saw.

I learned so much with my build.

@Krugerrand has already linked my thread, but there's a timeline list with links on my signature.

Here's my Hoop Coop build timeline:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/post-27236743

A hoop coop is SO doable.

View attachment 3775320

Outside tour:

Inside tour:

 

[avjudge]

A hoop coop is SO doable.

And you even inset the door (meaning size had to be precise)!

I built a hoop run last fall, trim boards (that will properly anchor the hardware cloth) and skirt still to be added when things warm up here, and I just made my door overlap. That way it doesn’t matter that my doorway ended up out of square and I did not need to be precise at all with the measurements of the door, it just needed to be an inch or more larger than the opening in all dimensions.

That hen is confused about why I am locked in the run (with the day’s veggie scraps that I just tossed on the run floor) and she is locked out! The snow is off the hillsides so they are back to free ranging with the run door open for food, water, and nest box.

 

[aart]

A hoop coop is SO doable.

It still takes some real building savvy tho.

 

[Krugerrand]

And you even inset the door (meaning size had to be precise)!

I built a hoop run last fall, trim boards (that will properly anchor the hardware cloth) and skirt still to be added when things warm up here, and I just made my door overlap. That way it doesn’t matter that my doorway ended up out of square and I did not need to be precise at all with the measurements of the door, it just needed to be an inch or more larger than the opening in all dimensions.
View attachment 3776175View attachment 3776177

That hen is confused about why I am locked in the run (with the day’s veggie scraps that I just tossed on the run floor) and she is locked out! The snow is off the hillsides so they are back to free ranging with the run door open for food, water, and nest box.

Very nice! The inward swinging door helps ensure snow won't block the door. Of course, you have to be sure the chickens can't knock something else over in there.

My door is hardware covered cattle panel. I didn't even need to hang real hinges. I have it raised up so that I don't have to worry about snow blocking it. The end walls are cattle panel. With only T-Posts holding it in, no part of the run is true construction.

 

[fuzzi]

It still takes some real building savvy tho.

I can use a hammer, and a drill. If that's savvy, then, yes.

I just read every thread on here about hoop coops, and made it my own.