This coop?

[Ruralhideaway]

Roughly 8 Square feet. Can't count the nest box.

I see you are in Florida, I'm guessing you can build even simpler there than much of the country.

 

[staceyj]

I saw that very coop on clearance at a home goods right after Christmas.
It was the size of a dog house for a beagle. It was cracked on one side and because of the plastic it was made out of couldnt be repaired only maybe duct taped. Seriously, A full grown opossum could collapse it by dropping onto it from a tree branch.

The problem with buying a prefab coop is that once you get them and spend an entire afternoon putting them together you realize how deceptive the photographs were.
They are like a mini version of what you thought you were getting.
And don't even get me started on the pictures which show like 6 chickens happily pecking away around it.
Dang! They photoshop so well and it's not fair to the first time chicken owner!

There are lots of ideas for upcycling something into a really solid coop.
Check out Pinterest for ideas!
And your areas Craigslist -has a free section and a lawn and garden section,
Be patient and creative and you could put that $100-200 to work on awesome improvements or predator proofing.

I appreciate your enthusiasm about this and yes, it's hard to be patient!
It took me almost FIFTY YEARS to finally get my chickens!

 

[Star and eclipsa]

I already have two chickens that live inside in a big cage and get to roam around the house and get to be outside when I am home.

 

[staceyj]

Well that's great !
They are safe, and you have time to make a careful purchase!

 

[AmazingRachel]

No, the coop itself is only 7 square feet. I would say that it's only good for 2 full sized hens, maybe 3-4 bantams. No matter how big you make the run, they need enough room for shelter from wind, rain, and cold.
I would recommend this for the amount of chickens you are looking for.
You could also do this but you would need to build a run.

 

[Star and eclipsa]

They are like a mini version of what you thought you were getting.
And don't even get me started on the pictures which show like 6 chickens happily pecking away around it.
Dang! They photoshop so well and it's not fair to the first time chicken owner!

I knew that they photoshopped the animals into most of those chicken coop/rabbit hutch pictures but I didn't think they where actually trying to make people think that was real. It is really easy to tell that they are photoshopped, especially when they use the same bunnies in the same positions for every coop/hutch.

 

[Star and eclipsa]

No, the coop itself is only 7 square feet. I would say that it's only good for 2 full sized hens, maybe 3-4 bantams. No matter how big you make the run, they need enough room for shelter from wind, rain, and cold.
I would recommend this for the amount of chickens you are looking for.
You could also do this but you would need to build a run.

Both are way out of my budget, but my mom is getting $6,000 when she gets her taxes back so maybe I can convince her to raise the budget more. $400 out of $6,000 isnt really that much.

 

[jthornton]

You live in central Florida, a coop can be easy to build as mostly you need two things protection from rain and predators. It could be as simple as 4 posts with a roof and a door covered with cage wire. Look on Craigslist for used sheds. Almost anything you do is better than a doll house from Amazon.

JT

 

[Star and eclipsa]

You live in central Florida, a coop can be easy to build as mostly you need two things protection from rain and predators. It could be as simple as 4 posts with a roof and a door covered with cage wire. Look on Craigslist for used sheds. Almost anything you do is better than a doll house from Amazon.

JT

I also need good protection from the extremely hot summers here. Predators, not so much. The closest thing to a predator around here is a two dogs that are in my neighbor's backyard all the time, but they are small and the neighbors have a fence. My house is the only one on my street without a fence, and it's really annoying, because I want to be able to have the chickens outside in a big space but they could easily escape my yard by just walking off.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

They don't make a prefab coop that will work for you in that budget. But you can make something really nice yourself instead. Jthornton is right. So make a bigger run with a partial roof and roosts. Shade, airy, safe. You could always improve as you go. That's a good budget for hardware cloth and a little roofing. In your climate you'd likely have precooked chicken in one of those little boxes! Think open air. How about a hoop coop?