Chicken Coops @ Costco!

[Nifty-Chicken]

My friend in Modesto CA spotted a coop at her Costco! Looks like you can order them online too: http://www.costco.com/chicken-coops.html

This is FANTASTIC advertising to all the people who go into Costco to raise awareness of raising backyard chickens!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

 

[SFBayArea]

Does anyone have an experience with this coop? It says up to 4 chickens. I plan to have large breed such as Rhode Island Red or Jersey black giants. Will this coop be too small for 4 chickens of one of those breeds?

 

[henless]

I saw one very similar to this at Atwoods. It was around $240.00 I believe. It was very cute. I just don't know how predator proof it would be.

 

[cochinator]

That's the main problem with these pre-fab coops and they are usually made out of fir wood. They are so light a raccoon could seriously pick the thing up, wouldn't even have to dig under it or tear the wire. The wire on them is cheap too. I ordered some on ebay but the only use I found for them was putting them inside my larger coops to separate the baby chicks. There is no way they would survive the first coon or fox that walked up to them.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

x2, i bought one and i had to paint it right away even though it was "weather proof"

 

[cochinator]

Does anyone have an experience with this coop? It says up to 4 chickens. I plan to have large breed such as Rhode Island Red or Jersey black giants. Will this coop be too small for 4 chickens of one of those breeds?

I personally would not feel comfortable keeping 4 or even 2 chickens in that coop unless they were free ranged quite a bit also. Rhode Island Red hens are not all that big, Jersey Giants are monsters though. It does look big enough for 4 of them to sleep in but not much more than that, especially if they are all jersey giants, in which case it would be tight. I would guess there are 2 "roosts" in that thing about 3 inches off the floor. It's definitely not even an average chicken coop but it's a heck of a lot better than a battery cage so I guess it's alright.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i think it would hold 3-4 rir hens but i would recommend adding a floor if it doesnt have one. the ones i seen do not. if you were to use 2x4s as a frame and hardware cloth it would protect the chickens from your predators and add some weight to the coop

 

[cochinator]

i think it would hold 3-4 rir hens but i would recommend adding a floor if it doesnt have one. the ones i seen do not. if you were to use 2x4s as a frame and hardware cloth it would protect the chickens from your predators and add some weight to the coop

I agree with this, you have to put something on the bottom of these "coop in a box" kits to give them some weight because they can just blow over in a mild wind. The main problem with them I think, is they are usually made of wood that is so cheap you can't even reinforce the wire. Basically, the wood is so soft that even if you put good wire on it, the staples can be pulled right out. It qualifies as "wood" and they are usually decent looking coops for the money, but they are made of what is essentially glorified cardboard. Seriously, even if you get the best wire you can and the best staple you can, won't matter when it's put into cardboard, any animal that wants to eat a chicken will be able to get to it.

 

[joan1708]

I think it's a nice looking coop. looks like hardware cloth fencing. Thats a good sign! Give it a dig proof floor and a few anchors and presto - cute coop!