Thoughts on this coop?

[happytrails16]

Hi all,

We have 8 girls that we need to move to a coop, we are going to buy a pre-fab until we can build our 8x16 coop/run. This one is from Costco and it says it can hold 7-9 free ranged or 3 cooped all the time. My girls are about 5 weeks so for now we would be keeping them in there until we can get the fencing built around for them to free range. There is also another one at TSC that I saw someone else had posted that we are also considering. The dimensions of this one are about 7.5x7.5 ft and about 5 ft tall. I have 3 BRs, 4 red sex links, and 1 Easter egger. Any input is appreciated as we need to get this asap. Thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How soon will you have the big coop ready? That is quite expensive for temporary housing. I can’t tell much about quality of build, but it looks like it has hardware around it. That’s better than chicken wire. The enclosed coop section is about 3’ x 4’.

Some of it depends on how you manage them, but they are still chicks. Eight pullets should be OK in that coop section alone for another few weeks. If you can give them access to that run portion pretty much when they are awake so they are not trapped in the coop section alone much, it can probably work until they are close to laying age. I can’t tell what it looks like inside, but you might need to convert all that inside the coop section into roosts/sleeping area.

I think you could build a 4’ x 4’ x 4’ box and fence in a small area for a run for a lot less money and without much work if all you are providing is a safe sleeping area while they grow up. But you should be able to make that work for eight pullets for another three months.

 

[Eric 2016]

I agree, those coops get expensive for all the more they are. you could put together a make shift coop and save money toward the real deal.

 

[happytrails16]

It is on sale for 299 at our local store. It is built with fir. The inside has 3 nest boxes with removable dividers and 3 roosting bars which are 34" long each. It also comes with a welded-wire pen skirt to keep predators from digging under. We will be adding a big fenced area in a few weeks so they can somewhat free range. So they really will only be sleeping in there. We probably won't be building the big coop for awhile. My husband works out of town so we don't have the time to build one right now.

 

[Eric 2016]

well if anything you could use it for young pullets in the future.

 

[happytrails16]

That is what my thinking is because no doubt I will be getting more !