[QUOTE=2DogsFarm;8572688]
poltroon: :eek: Those are waaaaay pricy!
Nice designs, but $3600 for a walk-in shed?
Home Dept, Lowes, etc can give you the shell - metal or wood - for half that & adding chicken-friendly insides is not going to cost another $1800.
Wonder who buys those things 
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I know, terrifying, right? I don’t have anything this fancy. Their smaller ones are a better deal. But, in general, these prefab type coops are best for people who need something that looks nice for the neighbors and don’t like to do their own construction. Also, this stuff is heavy if it’s built right, so buy local.
I’ve built several myself. I inherited one coop and converted a building into another.
Some things I have learned:
- The roof needs to slant to shed water (Joel Salatin failed me on this point.)
- A double layer of fence will save you a lot of heartache - predators will try to breach a layer where they can directly see chickens, but generally won’t try to break across empty space to get at chickens they can’t see.
- Portable coops will not be ported if they are too heavy for one person to move
- Wheels may not help on soft or uneven ground.
- portable coops may not touch the ground all the way on uneven ground.
- If building a coop for a child, make sure they can work all the doors themselves safely.
- hinges always go on the top or the side, not the bottom.
- ventilation is good
- it’s nice for the coop to be completely accessible to a person, so you can catch a chicken you want to catch and handle. If it’s a child’s chicken, really think this out.
- lumber and the hardware pieces cost way more than you think they should
- small pieces of metal roofing can often be scavenged, but they’re not expensive.
- bantam chickens are best kept in a run with a complete roof.
- a forgiving design is best: something where the chickens will be okay if you have to leave them inside for a day or two, something where forgetting to close a door is unlikely to result in tragedy, something where you can set up food and water for a couple of days if need be.
- it’s nice to be able to feed and water the chickens without having to go inside with them, for the times you’re in a hurry or are leaving them to someone else to feed.
- I like to have both drip waterers inside and pans of water outside for chickens if I can.
- if your coop isn’t completely enclosed in a rodent-proof and small-bird-proof way, consider a treadle feeder.
That coop is pricey, but what I like about it is that you’re going to have a good chicken experience with it. Last year when I needed to travel, I spent several hundred dollars of my vacation budget upgrading coops and feeders, which seemed extravagant, but it turned out to be totally worth it. So if you’re shopping or building, crib from some of the ideas.
Oh, OP should know that despite the pretty pictures, the chickens will basically tear up the ground under the coop into a dirt patch in a few days to a week. That’s awesome if you want to make garden beds, less awesome if it’s a lawn. If you want the ground to stay covered with plants and you don’t have a large space, you may be better off setting up the coop in a permanent spot with a solid bottom (protected against digging predators).
