which coop ? Pls help me choose 1

[Raven81]

Quote:
Yep, yep, yep...the bigger the better

Agreeing here! I have four different (quite large) runs now and I still don't have enough. The more you start with the better off you'll be.

yep im staying at my parents & they have a old converted stable / stall for the chickens with a pop door into a run & then free range in arvo. i have since built a smaller moveable one with a run for some young chicks i purchased 2 months ago & also built a broody box with a run so we now have 1 permanent big coop & 1 medium & 1 smaller moveable coops lol but i think i need another med size one once ive build my incubator & turned my old rat cage into a brooder.

talk about addictive.

edited for spelling.

 

[Judy]

You obviously need two coops, one for summer and one for winter. You don't need a portable coop, you just need two of them.

Or more, of course. Someone on here recently said they had 8....

 

[aussiedude248]

First you want a big coop, and have it match what your looking for and have it match your landscape to if you live in a old area Setting you should choose the 2nd one the run is a bonus + it's covered. But the third one is stlyish log theme which that one would look good in a snowy, mts, northern landscape. So the only thing that is in the way here is your style do you want a Cottage look or a Lodge look???

 

[NottinghamChicks]

I agree with Aussiedude, a coop should look natural in its environment. It should compliment and loos as though it belongs. I also agree with Farmboy, go BIG! I have multiple small coops and I wish I just had one big one, or three big ones

Your other option is a permanent coop closer to your house and buy or buidl (multiple, perhaps as the smaller they are, the easier to move) chicken tractors for the summer and or warmer months. They are close to you in the yucky and cold weather and get to move around in the summe to fertilze your lawn, eat your bugs, etc.

Good Luck!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

A covered run can give them shade in the summer. Lots of summer ventilation will cool down the coop in the evenings, after a hot day. If you give them lots of space and windows to let in light, they can hang out in the coop when it's too windy in the winter. Maybe that will help soften the conditions, if you end up with a permanent location that isn't perfect.

 

[MamaChic21]

it doesn't matter if it's cottage or lodge. The biggest one out of all these coops is 8x8. It is addictive, I had 2 chicks and now I have 22 chickens and 3 ducks

Yesterday night walking over or in of 36 inches of snow wasn't fun, not at all kept falling

. Many great ideas I've received, thank you all and keep them coming

 

[MamaChic21]

Quote:
Oh my, If I had 8 coops, my hubby will make sure I sleep in one of them

 

[elmo]

Sorry, but to me it doesn't look like any of those coops has enough ventilation. They could get too hot in the summer unless you are able to place them in total shade, and in the winter you may be battling humidity inside that can make frostbite more likely.

If you're fine with buying a coop and then retrofitting it with additional ventilation, think about where on these models you could easily add vents, ideally up high at the top of one or more walls so that you could leave them open or partially open in the winter without drafts blowing over your birds as they roost. I like a shed style roof coop (simple slanted roof with the front wall higher than the back wall), because you can put vents on the top of both the tall and the short wall and get cross ventilation in warmer weather, shut down the lower vent in cold weather but leave the front vent up high open.

Have you thought about hiring a local carpenter to build you a coop to your exact specifications? That's what I did, and it turned out to be even slightly cheaper than buying one of the prefab sheds and having it built for me on my lot.

 

[MamaChic21]

I have and the guy is coming next Monday. I selected these coops as a model kinda, let's see how much will he charge ? 2/4 is chicken coop and one dog kennel and the other is a playhouse. Ventilation can be added though, right ? I mean an extra window or other ventilation options. So let's see how much and how fast can this carpenter will build it for me and charge it. And I would compare it to these coops/kennel/playhouse prices and delivery options. I am so anxious to get this thing over and done with so the flock and I can be happy.

 

[patandchickens]

Can I make an alternative suggestion?

It sounds like money is a limiting factor (no offense meant, it is for most of us after all

) but you have a considerable number of chickens as well as ducks (who'd really be best housed separately if possible).

If you tell the carpenter "please make me this fancy-looking Martha Stewart-y thing I saw on the Web somewhere", it will cost CONSIDERABLY MUCH extra because a) the guy will charge extra for figuring out the mechanics/plans of the fancy bits and b) it really takes a lot more time and material than you might think to add those fake dormer windows and fancy architectural details and all that.

Whereas if you say "what kind of basic, decent-looking storage shed, no fancy stuff, can you build me for (a bit less than your actual budget)", you will get considerably more square footage per dollar spent. Because you'll be letting him build things in the easiest most efficient manner, and not wasting money on fripperies.

Bear in mind that a plain vanilla wooden storage shed can be tarted up any way you like, Martha Stewart-ly, *after the fact* and by you and for a whole lot less. Even just windowboxes and fake shutters and some plastic flowers can make a huge difference, and those are things you can do YOURSELF, no point in paying for 'em.

If you were going to be staying at your property for a good while and there would be no question of wanting to maybe ever take the coop with you somewhere else, I would suggest getting quotes on pole-built structures as well (as opposed to the conventional backyard shed which is stud walls over a wooden floor). Pole-built sheds are a cheaper way to enclose more square footage, which you really really need. They can be made as nice and fancy-lookin' on the outside as any stud-construction shed (that is not how they are *usually* finished but there is no reason you *can't*), the only real difference is that a pole-built shed is not practical to move elsewhere. Most often they are done with dirt floors (in your situation I would recommend fill as well), but they can perfectly well have raised wooden floors done instead, the same as a 'regular' stud-construction shed.

So my suggestion is to ask the CARPENTER what he feels would give you the most enclosed space for your buck, and do that, just make sure it has ample roof overhang and nice looking siding and you can easily make it look as yuppie or upscale or "fit in with the development" as you wish

(e.t.a. -- quite honestly, I would be astonished if a custom carpenter would charge less for a coop/shed than you'd pay just buying the thing from Home Depot or wherever, unless you can luck into someone extremely desperate and having a good source of exceptionally-discounted materials. Prefab is generally cheaper (doing it yourself is cheaper still, but having someone *else* do it is pretty reliably more expensive than prefab))

Good luck, have fun,

Pat