Urban Northern Coops "Resort Coop"

I unfortunately bought one of these coops, being taken in by the nice photos and glowing reviews on the site, of which there are no negative reviews in the 15 pages they show. I was in a time crunch to get housing for pullets I had ordered, and prefab seemed easier than building a coop from scratch. If it only cost a few hundred dollars, I would feel better about it than $800.

This coop arrived on time, and is technically made of solid wood, but it is much more like balsa wood than what it appears in photos. It was easy enough to assemble, but ill-fitting pieces make cracks that create drafts. The "pullout" tray below the roosting bars expanded in the humidity and is not able to be removed (the handle ripped out when I tried). Nesting box bases can be pushed up from below, allowing a predator easy entry to the coop, so I reinforced the bottom in hardware cloth. Luckily we have our coop in a fully enclosed and fenced run area so it is the second line of defense, not the first. I have done what I can to rehab this coop, including adding insulation, additional ventilation holes, painting inside and out with mildew-blocking primer and paint, reinforced all latches. I will definitely be building another coop, and regret not reading reviews here prior to purchase.

DO NOT BUY FROM URBAN NORTHERN! The wood is practically like balsa wood it is so thin. It is held together by staples and the wood arrived chipped. I seriously doubt this is American made. It is cheap junk. Furthermore, they have extremely poor customer service. We had to return an automatic coop door opener because I didn't realize it was electric when I ordered it and we had no plugs near the coop. I sent it back months ago and realized they had never credited me. When I contacted them they informed of their ridiculous 25% restocking fee. Fine, deduct the 25% fee whatever. However, they did not even credit me 75% and are trying to tell me its for shipping, which is crazy. I paid shipping for the initial purchase as well as for the return shipping. Save your hard earned money and frustration and do not buy from these scammers.

Website photos and description Maura you think you are getting a quality custom well made chicken coop. It’s not different than the cheap Amazon coops. Flimsy hinges, tiny screws, very thin wood. They completely ignored my concerns which is understandable due to all their bad reviews. Check out BBB - lots of complaints.

TOTAL SCAM!! They try to make it sound like these coops are made local, they are obviously foreign made, and just ship from their home in Washington. My coop arrived with damage, I got a snarky response. All of my panels have deep indentations in all the metal, it looks like somebody stood on all my panels. They just said oh well! The wood VERY thin, it feels like it’s a house for dolls, not chickens!!!!

As a newbie I got this for my chickens, but it broke right after I touched a board. very bad -10/100

Cheap garbage and the worst customer service I've ever experienced.

This is a terrible company. An absolute scam. Their website looks great and has all 5 star reviews but then I read the reviews here and tried to cancel my order the very next morning. They hadn't even shipped it yet and said there is a 25% cancelation fee. Even if I wanted to return it you have to pay for the shipping which is $250 dollars. The coop is terrible it is extremely thin and flimsy. The wood is thinner than plywood. I wish I never saw their website.

We ordered a chicken coop on August 9,2021. I have many pictures illustrating that it arrived with multiple broken pieces, merely stapled together(!), and is clearly not constructed of solid wood, as advertised. The company advertises this chicken coop, the "Resort Chicken Coop and Run," as solid wood, but it is constructed using staples and extremely thin plywood and are not solid in construction as the company asserts. This "coop" has such shoddy construction; metal is thin and bent/ bends easily, etc.

The company representatives, Michelle and Bill, are asserting that there is no plywood in their product, but this is a lie. Plywood is not solid wood.

This is of terribly shoddy construction and blatant false advertising; this would not hold up to a mild rain to keep out the rain let alone a storm. These assertions are based on basic logic/ common sense, in addition to extensive construction experience on top of years of experience with chicken coops, poultry, and predators such as raccoons, which are common in urban and rural settings. The product listing also asserts that this product uses "strong galvanized metal mesh wire" when in reality it could easily be bent by a small feline.

We have repeatedly requested that the company pay for return shipping to return the product, but this request has been repeatedly denied due to "company policy," in spite of the blatant false advertising and clear shoddy construction. Staples and metal that is so thin that it bends with the slightest of pressure do not offer superior quality. Rather, this is obviously of such inferior quality as to easily qualify for the junk pile.

I have attempted to work this out with the company but they are insisting that the scammed customer not only be on the hook for return shipping costs but also initial shipping costs, to the tune of hundreds of dollars. Precisely, the consumer, a victim of an obvious scam, is being expected to not only shoulder the original $219.99 for shipping but ALSO the cost of return shipping, for a minimum total cost of $439.98 in exchange for no product at all, when false advertising is apparent.

Of course, retrospectively now, it is clear that this is not an unusual situation with this company, and false advertising is in fact their business model, as evidenced by the links below, including an alert from the BBB:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/urban-northern-coops-resort-coop.11849/

https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/marysville/profile/farm-equipment/urban-northern-coops-1296-1000030400

https://www.yelp.com/biz/urban-northern-coops-marysville

I have numerous photos proving my assertions. Replacement parts cannot fix inferior materials/ craftsmanship, nor can they address false advertising claims.

This company clearly engages in gaslighting and scamming customers, as they have attempted to do in this case.

Probably the worst purchase I have ever made; flimsy, not fit for purpose, over priced with rude and unhelpful owners. We bought a chicken coop from Urban Northern (it arrived weeks late) and installed it after Labor Day - it was useless by March. It is flimsy (the gate, sliding doors and latch all broke within weeks), over priced and poorly constructed. We lost 15 chickens over several months. When we emailed the owner, they denied any responsibility and would not even send us spare parts. Extremely rude and unhelpful. We contacted them within 6 months of purchase, they told us to go away then contacted them again 11 months after purchase after making repairs ourselves and they refused to even consider sending us spare parts. HORRENDOUS product and terrible people.

I bought from Urban Northern because I like to support American made and small business. However, I was disappointed in this coop. Items were missing from the shipment (likely because one box was torn). When I took the coop pieces out of the box, the materials were unexpectedly light weight. The wood used is far to flimsy for the weather here. I got the coop with attached run and the wood and hardware cloth are not strong enough to keep out anything wanting to eat the chickens. It will keep your chickens in, but not much else. I had my dad Fab the missing pieces as I just don't want to do any more business with this company and will have to reinforce the entire run with real wood and better hardware cloth. The whole thing will have to put in barn for the winter. Guess I bought a $1000 summer home for my chickens.

False advertising on Craigslist made us THINK we were getting a quality coop built in the US. We liked the idea of supporting a local, “family run” Pacific Northwest business. Instead, we received a flimsy, poorly built coop that was made in China and “shipped from the US” (how they mislead folks). The coop we received was different than the images and description on their website… their first false advertising. We’re kicking ourselves for not reading reviews on FB, BBB, Yelp, etc. because they’re ALL bad. After researching, we found you can buy the EXACT same coop on Wayfair for 1/3 the price… EXACT SAME coop!

The coop is made of thin slats of wood that are STAPLED together. Luckily, the screws holding the panels together should help this piece of garbage last a couple months, at best. Our coop (delivered July) is already falling apart... yup, just a couple WEEKS. The latches don't work, the asphalt paper is bubbling and separating from the roof and the whole thing feels like it could collapse in a strong breeze.

Without a floor, it's NOT even close to predator proof (more false advertising). Any critter able to dig/burrow down an inch (the width of the slat) could have gotten through. We had to add a floor for protection and to help keep the walls together. We also had to replace the flimsy latch and reinforce the corners. This could be a great starter or temporary coop but do yourself a favor… get this on Wayfair and save yourself a ton!

Advertised... "big enough to get inside to spend time with your girls."
Reality... ain't no one going to fit inside there.



Advertised... "predator proof."
Reality... any small critter could break those paper thin hinges.

Advertised... "quality construction to provide years of protection for your flock."
Reality... as long as those staples hold together and there's no strong breeze.

I bought this coop 3 months ago. I live in Washington. I will let the pictures do the talking.



Terrible design flaw with the wood trim. Water soaks into the wood directly.



Inside the coop. The roof leaks terribly. Believe me I am trying to remediate the mold but it's impossible.



The shavings are constantly wet inside this coop. I have to change them every week. Water wicks into the coop from the terrible "roofing" material. when in rains it drips into the coop.


Falling apart, moldy and a health hazard for my chickens.

This item came poor packaged, multiple broken pieces (10 plus), the quality is terrible, the wood is so flimsy and cheap. They claim that this coop is for 12 hens. No way can 12 full grown hens live in this coop.
Unfortunately we did not open this item for 30 days and could not send back because of there 30 day policy. They would not give refund or discount for all the damaged pieces, only replacing one piece that after three weeks still have not received that.

This product is not worth 700 at all. If it was a 200 item I would not be so concerned.