Where should I buy a chicken coop from?

[Touri88]

I haven't had chickens since I was a little girl. Live in town now, but can have some chickens, so would like to get a few (10 or less). I was thinking of getting the polish ones or maybe even silkie bantams (unsure at this time). Started looking at chicken coops and just not really sure where to start. Are there any coops yall recommend? I checked out amazon (seems very limited and sketchy choices) and am considering buying from the Chicken Coop Company. Just wanted to ask around first and see if anyone has any experiences/ideas they'd like to share. Thank you in advance!

 

[Ecarroll]

I haven't had chickens since I was a little girl. Live in town now, but can have some chickens, so would like to get a few (10 or less). I was thinking of getting the polish ones or maybe even silkie bantams (unsure at this time). Started looking at chicken coops and just not really sure where to start. Are there any coops yall recommend? I checked out amazon (seems very limited and sketchy choices) and am considering buying from the Chicken Coop Company. Just wanted to ask around first and see if anyone has any experiences/ideas they'd like to share. Thank you in advance!

Buying/ordering prefab coops is always sketchy, some can work, although with less chickens than they say will fit and some modifications (more ventilation, possible changing some nest boxes or roosts etc.). But I would highly recommend building your own coop, or remodeling a shed into a coop, after reading up on sizing requirements, ventilation and other stuff. If you are not able to build a coop for yourself, consider highering if someone local to build one for you, either someone who has chickens or give them instructions from you after reading up on all the stuff. Good luck with your chickens!

 

[nuthatched]

Hire a handy man and have one built or buy a small shed and convert. Affordable prefab coops are junk and ones that aren't are the price of a vehicle, and are still undersized and under ventilated.
Here's some basic space guides:
ATLEAST:
4sq ft per bird in the coop.
8sq ft per bird in the run.
1 linear foot per bird for roost.
1 sq ft of permanent, overhead ventilation per bird.
1 nest box per 3-4 birds.
Vertical space is good for you but the birds can't use it and that's a way prefab coops trick people, they have tall, airy looking runs attached when in practice, there's less surface area than a coffee table.

 

[Bawkbok]

Hire a handy man and have one built or buy a small shed and convert. Affordable prefab coops are junk and ones that aren't are the price of a vehicle, and are still undersized and under ventilated.

I concur with this 100%. We have a prefab coop marketed to house 8 adult chickens. There is no way on God's Good Earth I would put more than our 3 in there. I think even that's too many for the space. That said, a lot depends on your budget, your yard / land size, how many can your yard space reasonably accommodate while free ranging - or will they be penned at all times, do you have neighbors close by? A lot to consider. If they will be confined to the coop and run at all times, you will want to make it bigger than you think you need. They need space to get away from each other. We have 140 sq. ft. for three birds. Of course, I think they need more room. I encourage you to go to the Coop design and maintenance forum and read all the wonderful information there - experience of others, etc. There are also great articles on this site for coop design.

 

[FrostRanger]

I also suggest remodeling a shed, most prefabs are too small, poorly ventilated and too expensive for what they are. For all the effort you'd have to put in to make a prefab work, you'd get a better result remodeling a shed or building your own. Trust me, I tried remodeling a prefab, wasn't worth it, it would have been cheaper and less work to just buy the materials to build a coop myself

 

[EmmaDonovan]

It's going to depend in your chickens and environment.

I've bought three coops from Polar Aurora. I bought the ones with the larger 1.26" diameter poles. They are strong, easy to assemble and fit together well.

The green chicken wire they provide will keep chickens inside but it will not keep predators out. We only use chicken wire on one of them because we're using it as as temporary coop for daytime when predators are less of an issue and we can keep an eye on the coop. Our chickens do not sleep in there.

We had parts stolen out of our yard for one of the coops so we couldn't use that one. The third coop I bought is a larger, permanent day/night coop and we are replacing all the green chicken wire with 1/2" hardware cloth.

The poles go together very quickly and easily. They have numbers and letters and come with good instructions. The poles will be quick but it will take much longer to cover them with chicken wire or hardware cloth and it will take more zip ties than they provide.

One person could in theory put it all together but it will be much easier with more people. Two can do the job just fine. Three or more will make it go more quickly.

Depending on your environment and weather, the plastic zip ties won't last. You might want to use metal zip ties and/or bailing wire to secure the chicken wire or hardware cloth to the poles.

Polar Aurora provides a tarp for the roof. It is of decent quality and easy to attach but those kinds of tarps do not last long where we live (in the desert). I replaced the provided tarp with a heavy-duty 16 mil tarp.

We get some high winds here so the coops are anchored to t-posts cemented into the ground. The permanent coop will also be anchored to a concrete block wall.

Note the gaps around the door and between the bottom poles and the ground. That may or may not be an issue for you depending on the predators in your area. I added a predator apron all the way around to cover the gap on the bottom and then some, and I attached the chicken wire to the door with a little extra to cover the gap around the door. For the the permanent coop I bought a separate door that will have no gaps.

The edges of chicken wire are very stabby. You'll have to bend back each and every sharp edge so it doesn't stab you, the chickens, or the tarp. This can take a long time. Put on some music or a podcast and get to work (Mr. Ballen's podcasts have gotten me through a lot of coop assembly).

Polar Aurora coops cost less on Amazon than they do on Polar Aurora's web site but there's less of a variety on Amazon and Amazon seems to sell out of them quickly.

Good luck with whatever design you choose!

 

[Bawkbok]

Depending on your environment and weather, the plastic zip ties won't last. You might want to use metal zip ties and/or bailing wire to secure the chicken wire or hardware cloth to the poles.

I can attest to this comment. If you have strong wind, plastic zip ties will not stay connected. Most of ours were ripped off during a hurricane. I never found pieces in the yard so they probably landed in the next county. I had to replace about 1,500 zip ties to the garden cloth we have over the galvanized steel run.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

That's a lot of zip ties!

 

[Bawkbok]

That's a lot of zip ties!

yes it is. Took me about 6 hours to replace them all. My fingers were screaming at me by the end of the day especially after using the nippers to cut off all the ends. THD carries a bag with 3k ties. We bought the heavy strength. Those suckers aren't going anywhere. If they do, I've got bigger problems.

 

[teddyjames]

Watched a random youtube video about some random prefab from amazon. In a nutshell he said that the wire used is so weak that only a chicken couldn't break it. He was breaking it with his fingers no less. You would be surprised what you can/could do with a simple hand saw, some nails and hammer. You really don't have to measure anything, or keep anything square or level. Sometimes it comes out great!