Just took my intended coop for my office...now what? Buy new? Smaller

[N. Virginia]

Hi Folks:
Well, I built such a beautiful coop that I've taken it over for my office. Not for chickens! So the chickens are still in the barn, and I need to start over. Have no more carpentry help for the chickens since my guy is now working on the office!

Options are:

1) buy a new coop (around $1,000) that sits on legs (think it's something like 4X12') - saw a cute one on farmnyard.com...drawback is that a person can't walk inside

2) buy a home depot storage shed and customize (8X10) ...drawback is that this will take some work and be not so nice looking

Thoughts?
Cheers,
VA

 

[kichohana]

I know what you mean. I have a 16x20 shed my husband and I built for our lawnmower/tool/potting/storage shed, etc. Every so often I look at it and think what an awesome huge coop it would make. But alas, my 4 girls have a lovely coop of their own, much smaller than the lawnmower/tool/potting/storage shed. I can't walk inside my coop, nor do I need to. I can reach inside with a rake to clean it out, and I can climb up into it if I HAVE to... I don't see it as being a drawback. I can walk into my attached run if I need access to the girls.

I like the coops you found on farmnyard.com. How many chickens do you need to house? Their 4x12 coop max capacity should be 12 standard birds. I think their prices are pretty high for the size of their coops. You're paying for labor, but they are pretty cute. You would still have to factor in the cost of a run unless you plan to free range them.

Some of the shed kits from your local hardware stores are pretty reasonably priced and you'll get a lot more space for your money. Paint and trim are extras you can add as you go to "customize" if you don't like the look of a "kit shed" for a coop. As far as the interior, cheap and easy to modify. The chickens won't care if it's not custom built!

I guess, imho that it's a matter of personal choice. I would go with the shed kit and customize it to my liking and not be stuck with what someone else thinks is going to work for my birds.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I just have to say that I bought some "cute" prefab. chicken coops. But before that, my hubby and my father-in-law put up a metal shed for a coop. My FAVORITE is the shed.

I can walk in it, and don't have to stoop and bend to see around the corners to clean it. I even used it as a wood shed during the time we didn't have chickens.

I can throw cardboard boxes or any size nesting boxes in there. My prefab. coops I can't even fit some extra cardboard boxes in for more nests unless they are quite small.

 

[Lbrad7]

I have a large barn so I use part of it as my coop but I have always wondered about how hard it would be to convert one of those metal carports into a coop. I think you can get a pretty decent sized one set up in your yard for about 600 bucks. Seems it would be really easy to enclose one with some siding and walla!!

I am very interested in hearing your thoughts on my idea and curious if anyone has ever actually done it.

 

[patandchickens]

LOL, most people put their *chickens* in a shed-or-office building, not set up office in what was meant for a coop

What about looking for a used shed on Craigslist etc?

Lbrad7, there are some people on BYC who have converted freestanding carports into coops; how good an idea it is depends on a) how good a carport it is <g> and b) what climate you live in. But certainly there are people who're quite happy with the results. Although they are usually folks who already *had* the carport. I am a bit skeptical it'd be worth *buying* one, compared to the cost of constructing a conventional coop -- but that depends on your situation and you could certainly do the numbers to see.

Pat