“Claims to be big enough for 4 chickens but the inside is only about 2x2. Should be 4x4. I ordered this coop Sunday night and Monday afternoon I called to switch it to the one that supposedly holds up to 6 chickens since this is inadequate space for 4 and they told me I could not cancel because they had shipped it already. I told them I would refuse delivery and they said I would then be responsible for shipping costs plus the 15% restocking fee. Again I didn‚Äôt want to cancel.. I wanted to spend more money! I was going to be spending over $100 more on the new one and they were so unhelpful! Guess they would rather make money off the shipping than make $500. Worst customer service I ever experienced. I will be refusing delivery and disputing the charge on my credit card. Do not order from this unhelpful site!!!”
“I actually bought this coop as a hutch for my two large bunnies and it works great! They still get outside free time, but it also a really good size for them to hang out in. Make sure to either buy the optional bottom piece or make one yourself so they don't tunnel out! I looked high and low for a good sized hutch and wasn't happy until I went on Mypetchicken. Fast delivery and went together with relative ease. It would also work for a few bantams, but it would be too small for a couple of regular hens.”
“You get what you pay for. I wasn‚Äôt in the position to build a coop from scratch so I decided on a prefab until I could get something more permanent. The reviews said this one was great, but I‚Äôve come to learn that this thing is garbage. The only thing it‚Äôs good for is kindling. Getting it together was a pain as nothing aligns as it should. Sturdy???? Not hardly. Practical???? Absolutely not.
Something told me to wait until I could build something better but I decided not to. Please for the love of everything holy DO NOT BUY, save your money, spend $20 on plans and build your own”
“I am new at chickens....I put my 8 week old chicks in this coop. It was perfect for a while. Soon I needed another run and now at 7 months old they have outgrown this coop. Investment so far: $568.95. I have a White Cochin, an Australorp, a Buff Orpington and a Cuckoo Maran. The roosting bars are not long enough for all 4 to perch on and so they have ganged up on the Cochin and bumped her off into the poop. There are 2 roosting bars. The one closest to the nest boxes is not used because the Cochin can't get to it because the others block her way. There appears to be a scuffle every night and sometimes both bars are knocked off the wall . Also, this coop is hard to clean for a grown 5'4" human. It's small. Child size.... The run does not dry out very well either. I would not recommend this coop for large chickens. Bantams would love it. No more than 3. No more than 2 large chickens. Rabbits would love it. I'm having my carpenter build me a large coop and this original one will become the nursery for new chicks. Moral of the story: Bigger is better. Build one yourself !”
“Not really big enough for 4 chickens. Too much money for what you get. Inside not big enough for the chickens to roost. I would have liked to be able to buy the building plans and built it myself..”
“This is the longest review for this coop, but worth reading before you buy!
We did a lot of research before buying this coop/run for 2 little egg-layer pullets we are getting. Everything about it has met or exceeded our expectations. They call the wood Chinese Fir which, according to my research, is probably Cunninghamia lanceolata, a hard wood from Asia that is very resistant to rot, fungus, bugs, etc. But I can’t swear by it so time will tell. It came fast in perfect condition with all parts and no split/broken wood pieces despite one end of the box being smashed during shipping. The packing inside is really good for all the boards. It was super simple to put together and looks like it will last many years with the additions I made. It took me 5 days to complete, only because I'm over 60 and slow plus I did several things to it to make it last longer as described below. Others have said they can put it together in 1 hour or less which I believe. I've included photos and details about our coop-building process to help others who are debating about this coop/run.
Background: We live on a 1/2 acre canal home property in suburban southwest Florida (non-deed restricted community). It's a non-agricultural single-family residential area with county restrictions against most farm animals but not poultry. However, we've never seen chickens in our area, so just to be safe, we wanted them hidden from neighbors' view. This coop was big enough for 2 pet hens and small enough to hide behind our 12x30' shed next to our home (see photo). We (and our two indoor cats) can see the coop from our master bedroom windows and lanai which is perfect. This is not a "stand-up" in coop, but if you're not too big you CAN get inside the run doors for cleaning. I'm 5/4" and have no trouble getting into it if needed for cleaning, etc. (use a knee pad though if you have coarse sand inside the runs like we did!).
The BUILD process: I built it in our garage for more room and shade (Sept/Oct in Florida is HOT) and a flat floor for parts to lie on. All the parts are marked in separate bags, which were great and kept everything organized. It arrived in tact despite one box being a little smashed on the end. Here are some hints for putting it together:
1. I glued everything in addition to the screws supplied (used Titebond Ultimate Wood Glue…amazing stuff). The only thing I didn’t glue was the roofs for the 2 runs in case I wanted to remove them so I could stand up in it for a thorough yearly cleaning.
2. Do everything in the order it states so you don’t miss anything. Some things cannot be put together correctly if you don’t do the previous thing beforehand.
3. The coop roof has hinges which is really nice for opening easily to clean but no lock to keep critters out (they do mention that on their website). I added a National Hardware Swivel Safety Clasp to it. If you’re worried about humans getting into it, put a combination lock on it too.
4. The hinge/lock for the nesting bin is pretty cool for keeping critters out. It took me a minute to figure it out myself. But if your coons figure it out, put a carabiner on it. If you’re worried about humans stealing your eggs, you’ll have to put a combination lock on it.
5. I put all the slide bolts on while putting it together, then took them off before painting. That way, the holes are more easily found for replacing the hardware after painting. It’s great that they supply two of them for each door of the coop. If the coons figure out both to open a door, I’ll have to rethink those.
6. I painted everything after it was finished. Because it was stained by the manufacturer already, I used Bulls-Eye 1-2-3 primer on the whole thing first. Then I painted two coats of all the exterior wood with exterior semi-gloss paint (white, grey and light blue). Photos attached. That took 4 days.
7. We added rubber to the ramp so the chickens could get in/out of the coop without sliding on it.
8. We built a base with 12-inch stepping stones to keep critters from digging under the coop. Make sure you level everything.
9. We built a 4x4 base to set the coop on so it wouldn’t get wet sitting on the stepping stones and to give us space to put 3 ½” of coarse sand in the run without touching the base of the coop itself. You don’t need to bolt the 4x4’s, they are heavy enough!
10. We added cheap linoleum flooring under the 4x4’s to make cleaning the runs easier. A 3’ x 12’ scrap piece from Home Depot (about $20) was enough to do the run AND inside the roosting box to make it easier to clean too.
11. We also added a Midwest Dog Crate replacement pan (24”) to the roost box to make cleaning that easier. Just take it out and dump it into our compost bins! Yes, we have compost bins next to our shed and veggie gardens. It wasn’t quite wide enough, so hubby cut me a piece of wood ½” thick the width the fill in the extra space that I painted flat black to match the pan. Thank you honey!
12. We made a “Little Deuce Coop” sign for the top of the coop and bought (got lazy) a personalized “Farm Fresh Eggs” sign for the egg bin on the side of the coop (so cute!).
That‚Äôs it! Yes, it took a week to do everything, but we hope to have many years of enjoying it, and we hope our little egg-layers love it too! We‚Äôre getting a Rhode Island Red and Black Star pullet for our new pets. Can‚Äôt wait!”
