The "Smart Coop" - In search of reviews/opinions

[Shakerflock]

Our family of four is looking to expand with the addition 3-5 chickens later this spring. We are all novices at this and though there is a strong community of support for "backyard chickens" in our area, we are still in search of just the right coop for our new flock.

Due to a number of reasons, we believe that finding the right "prefab" coop makes sense for our family. We have done a bunch of searching and reading related to coops and it seems as if the search for the right coop, low cost, easy maintenance, sturdy enough to withstand the Cleveland winters, is akin to searching for the Holy Grail.

However, this morning my wife came across a coop on Pinterest (of all places) and I was hoping to get the opinion of this prestigious group. I have performed an extensive search online and here at BYC and cannot seem to find a truly honest appraisal of the coop design and construction. The coop is called "The Smart Coop" and is advertised at www.thesmartchickencoop.com. If we purchase it, we would probably get a run to go with it (which may end up being temporary until we build an extension ourselves), and the "addition".

Is there anyone out there who has seen or used this coop? Anyone else with more experience have any thoughts or concerns based on what you see?

Thanks in advance for your help! This is such a fantastic community and I am so glad you all are here...

 

[aart]

Typical prefab...too cute and too small.

There's a 'rule of thumb', 4sqft of floor space per bird in coop..... it's a bare minimum and if you live in a winter wonderland, double that space.
And make it tall, walk in tall...easier to maintenacen all year round and much better for venitilation in winter.

 

[ScenicViews]

Maybe you can find some one on Craigs List that builds them? That is what I did. I found a guy that builds them in NC, we told him what size we wanted and how big of a run we wanted, 4 weeks later..Coop! I even asked him to build me a mini-barn to keep my feed and shavings in.

Good luck with your search.

 

[Lynfire]

I love my smart coop, but I live in southern California, so they don't get cold. I have two runs attached, but I also let them free-range during the day. I'll have 7-8 chickens soon, so I am adding the lean-to and more runs.

 

[Monguire]

You may find (like we did) that your search for a coop solution is a multi-stage evolution. I'm not a handy guy by any means and was VERY leery at the prospect of building my own from scratch. We opted for a prefab unit and as we were putting it together made adjustments to strengthen the abysmal build quality. Once we were happy with our adjustments and the final product we quickly watched the young chooks outgrow what we thought would be enough space. We also noted all the things we hated about the coop. Pull-out litter trays easily got gunked up with sand (we use sand in our coop/run) and were a chore to slide, bending over to scoop poop got REAL tiring on my geezerly back, inadequate ventilation, etc.

Coop 2.0 was a hard pill to swallow so soon after sinking so much $ into what we thought would be all we'd need. But having Coop 1.0 as a model to readily reverse-engineer, having my annoy-list and taking into consideration the sage advice of folks on BYC, it was soooo MUCH easier for me to pick up hammer and nail and actually build Coop 2.0 to what we really needed. It might not be the prettiest (nary a perfectly-squared join to be found in it) but it is roomy, secure, clean and STURDY.

Good luck on your search! Here's to hoping you find coop-nirvana on the first try!

 

[Farmer SMJ]

We have a Smart Chicken Coop and live in Michigan. We bought the screen covers to go with it and the hens have been fine. The covers are clear so they get lots of sunlight in the coop because the entire bottom foot of the coop is screening.

Maybe they changed the design or something because ours is 3 feet x 4 feet. It's small, but very well designed so it works for us. We also got two of their runs, so the chickens actually have a 12 ft by 3 ft. area. In the winter, we covered the run top with that white corrugated plastic sign stuff (that realtors use now) from Home Depot.

 

[bdjh]

That's a really cute coop, but keep in mind, it's only 4' x 2.5', which would give you room for 2 or 3 birds. If you want 5 chickens, you'll want to aim closer to 20 or 25 square feet minimum. One of the things it doesn't have, though, are windows. Our girls sit in front of their window all day during the cold winters, so I think they actually enjoy it.

I built my own, but I've recently seen some pre-fab units here in Winnipeg, for $800 - $1300, depending on size, from Horizon Structures. They seem to be retailing here much cheaper than from the horizon site itself, for some reason....they must offer great wholesale pricing.

VERY sturdy coops. Knowing how much mine cost to build, I'd definitely buy one of those next time.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Its cute, and small... but as you said, you're in Cleveland... I doubt that big hole in the bottom of the coop that allows the poop to drop to the ground is going to keep your girls warm enough.
I've found that many there are farmers in my area that build coops... I'd check that and craig's list out before I'd buy this one. I know my girls would be too big, and too cold in my New England winters...

 

[User395221]

The Smart Coop doesn't have a wire floor.

The photos show wire underneath with "predator proof floor" on the caption. Maybe they've changed the design since you bought yours?

 

[aart]

The Smart Coop doesn't have a wire floor. The poop falls right onto the ground and dries out because of the side screens.

So there's no floor at all.....might get pretty chilly in there during my harsh winters.

True if you don't attach the run. But we have runs with ours so there is plenty of space.

No amount of run space can make up for a cramped coop at roost time.