Would you consider buying this coop? Newbie trying to pick a coop for small flock.

[Nicolathecat]

We wish to have a small flock of 3-4 chickens (Easter Eggers and Buff Orpingtons). I know that there are some excellent plans out there to build your own, but I have to admit that I am very intimidated by the idea of building my own coop and run.

My flock would be contained 99% of the time. We have dogs and there are a lot of dogs and cats in the neighborhood.

I am considering buying a combined coop and run from http://chickengardener.com/combocoop/ I am particularly considering either the extended mini or combo coop. They say you can house six chickens in these, but given that mine will not be free ranging I do not think it would be enough space for six.

I considered the Eglu Cube, but the price is excessive and it sounds like it has some leakage issues...though I love the purple color available...lol.

I would prefer to keep the total cost under $1,000 (less would be better, but that is my cap for this.) I am in Washington State (near Tacoma)...if anyone can suggest a better option (that does not involve me building a coop) I would love to hear about it.

I did consider building a coop, I even bought the plans for the city biddy, but quickly felt overwhelmed and realized I simply do not have time or the skills to build one.

Thank you,
Nicola

 

[Izzymoon]

Yes, for 3-4 chickens that is a great coop

 

[chicksbunsdog]

I think they look good - always hard to tell from a picture though. You might consider upgrading the $75 to have the hardware cloth instead of the fencing to keep out predators or other critters. I was looking at some coops yesterday at Agway that were very well built but had surprisingly little ventilation. Can't tell from the photos how much ventilation is in those coops but it seems like its simple enough to cut or drill some holes to add ventilation if needed. Good luck!

 

[Nicolathecat]

I would definitely want to get the hardware cloth since I know we have rats in our neighborhood. My dog actually killed one in our backyard earlier in the summer. I did email the company to ask about ventilation, latches and window options (that one window seems a bit small.) They say they deliver to Washington so I asked about the cost for that also. I figure if we get a coop this winter I can spend a few months tweaking it, painting it and getting it just how I want before we get chicks in the spring.

I am happy to hear that it would be big enough for 3-4 hens.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I like the arrangement of this coop a lot. I live in a similar area to you and would definitely suggest hardware cloth upgrade and also trenching around where the coop will be and burying hardware cloth a foot or so down, too. Even if nothing tries to dig in, chickens taking dust baths can make pretty good holes. They seem to like to put them against the fence.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The coop combo is going to be well worth the extra $100 to give you standing room. It's a pain if you have to hunch over and crawl to grab a chicken. Yup well worth the added cost. I still wonder how great a deal it is as it's unfinished and unassembled when it arrives. Will take some skill, time, and exterior stain before completed.

Something to consider that would lower costs and provided much more run space is a 10'X10' galvanized dog kennel. These can be found on sale for $200 or even good used ones from craigslist. That way you only need a coop on stilts inside of it and a minimum of netting on top to keep birds in and hawks out. It just seems to me if you had plans for a coop and purchased the material from the plans a semi skilled carpenter with tools could put it together for you in a day for what? 200-$250 labor cost. You'd end with better product, more run space, no labor yourself excepting the 8 bolts to assemble kennel; all that for slightly less to same total cost.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I know not everybody has the time to build a coop, but we started with no carpentry skills and practically zero tools and have managed to build a variety of things for our chickens. Probably the easiest are the small cages we use for hospital and time-outs and younger birds based on a chicken tractor. We got our start by watching this video:

I can't get over how expensive pre-made coops are!

 

[RWD]

Only buy coops from people who have chickens. Those look better than most I have seen in the catalogs.

 

[skunknchatter]

I like that coop. I looks pretty well thought out to me and is pleasing to look at as well. If you've got the $$ then I say, yeah, why not? Just a note though, it seems like I (and not only me) always end up wishing I'd gone bigger. I built a coop to house my 6-8 laying hens but thanks to BYC I've now become addicted to hatching chicks so I wish I had built a bigger coop. Be sure and buy/build as big as you think you'll ever want

 

[teach1rusl]

I agree with egghead...I'd invest the money in a 10x10 (or even a 6 x 10...something along those lines, but 6 ft. tall) dog run. I'd cover it with welded wire (just run it across and tie with zip ties), and stick a large dog house in it. Do you have enough skills to add a roost and ventilation if needed???

Since you know that your birds would be contained 99% of the time, a 38 sq.ft run is pretty small. It work okay for 3 birds, but I think it'd be pushing it for 4 birds. I can't tell about the housing, since it didn't list its dimensions. If you go with this type of coop, I would advise the taller one too, because it's no fun having to stoop over to clean or access your birds (unless you're really short).