What kind of coop do I need for my situation?

[banananutmuffin]

I am a total newbie to chickens. Have wanted them since I was a kid, and Hubby has finally agreed to get me a coop for my birthday! I've been researching them for what seems like forever, and I still can't decide what's best. I thought I was going to go with the Handcrafted Coops Ark, but maybe that's not right. Anyway, thought I'd lay out my situation for you backyard chicken experts, and hope someone can give me a good recommendation. So, here are the basics of my situation:

1. I will have 2-4 hens total, probably 3.

2. I have a fenced backyard (1/3 acre) where the chickens will be allowed to roam sometimes, but not all day, every day. (Best case scenario, they'll range in the yard for a few hours, 2-4 days a week.)

3. Since the birds will be spending a fair amount of time in their run, I would prefer something portable (so I don't end up with a dust bowl in one spot of my yard).

4. Whatever coop I choose, it needs to be attractive. My neighbors will raise a stink if it doesn't fit in with the appearance of the neighborhood. I find most tractor coops aren't very pretty.

5. It has to be premade. I don't want to modify a shed or playhouse or build anything from scratch. Besides, seems to me those aren't portable, and I'd have a dust bowl in my yard, right?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

How exciting! What area of the country do you live in? Weather makes a big difference in coop design. Does it get really hot there in the summer? Do you get heavy snow in the winter?

 

[teach1rusl]

Actually, it wouldn't have to be portable. Small coop/run combos are often filled with coarse sand (the run part of course...lol...not the housing). I did my bantam coop this way - it's a very small run, so I simply put down landscape fabric and laid sand down on top of that. It drains well, is easy to clean and manage, gives the chickens a dirt/dust bathing area, and I don't have to move it around. Here's an example of one I pulled off of the Small Coops page: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=26484 (it's not mine). If you go to my BYC page "Kruer Bantam Coop" you'll see my little coop for just a few birds.
I know they sell premade coops similar in build to many of the all inclusive coops on the small coops page. If you use sand, things don't become a muddy mess at all

and you don't have to drag a coop around every few days.

 

[banananutmuffin]

Thanks for the comments! I should probably have added that I was also hoping to give the chickens grass so they could eat bugs, worms, etc., too. That was another reason I was hoping for portability. I'll give up that idea if it's not feasible for some reason, but I was hoping.

I live right by the Mason-Dixon line. It gets as hot as 95 degrees in the summer (which can be either wet or dry or both, as far as precipitation goes), and as cold as 10 degrees in the winter, not counting wind chill factor (sometimes we get blizzards, sometimes we get hardly any snow at all). Those are the temperature extremes though. The highest ever recorded here was 104 degrees, and the lowest ever recorded was -17 degrees.

I really appreciate the insight! I have no idea what kind of coop/run to choose. Thanks so much!

 

[elmo]

Personally, I am not a fan of those ark style, A frame coops. I think it's very difficult to use the space at the top of the "A" in a way that's consistent with good management of chickens. Might work for rabbits, though. Chickens like to roost up off the floor, but in an A frame there's precious little headroom for that, plus there's no good place to put the roosts to avoid cold drafts from the vents.

When you try to design a tractor as a permanent coop, there's a tension between making it light enough to move and making it large enough for design requirements (space and ventilation without drafts). Then there's the security question. It's harder to make a tractor secure from predators than it is to make a stationary coop secure.

What I did is build a nice, secure, ample coop and run, and then I have a day tractor so our flock can enjoy the benefits of grazing on the grass.