Best Chicken Coop Kits

My daughter, Belinda, is majoring in landscape management at BYU. She loves plants and she loves animals more than almost anything. (She also loves babies and will be the sweetest momma in the world someday.)

Last winter, out of nowhere, she became obsessed with chickens. Given that we are pretty firmly grounded in our suburban roots, I'm not sure where this rural bent came from, but it was strong and she was resolute. She read and studied and discussed all things chicken for days on end. She learned everything there is to know about chickens and then some. Fortunately, we have animal rights on our little half acre of land and she decided that when spring came, she would be the proud owner of backyard chickens.

First, she built a brooder out of two large plastic bins with mesh.

Next, she ordered the baby chick — by mail order. (Who knew you could do this?) First she ordered from , but cancelled the order after multiple delays and misrepresentations. Then she ordered from . A few days later, she received a box full of darling little baby chicks.

Knowing that she would soon need a much larger home for her brood, Sam and I gave her an early birthday present. She wanted to build a chicken coop for her flock, but the design details were very complicated. If we could find a chicken coop kit, she could have the satisfaction of putting the structure together, without all the down side of design and parts acquisition and preparation.

Chicken CoopAfter much searching and comparing, we found some very suitable chicken coops for sale, from a southern Utah company, Chicken Warehouse. Even with the shipping fee (they are located in Apple Valley), the price was better than what we could find locally, either from farm stores or individual sellers.

The owners, Shayne and Julie, are great to work with and answered all the questions from this non-farm family. The coops come in kit form with pre-stained, kiln-dried fir wood, asphalt roof shingles attached to the roof pieces, all necessary hardware, and step-by-step instructions.

Chicken Coop AssemblyBelinda chose Chicken Coop 1010 (which is no longer available). It houses four to six chickens and she planned to build a large run to attach to it. And, seriously, it's cute as can be.

She built the coop almost entirely on her own, in only a few hours. There were very few problems with the construction process, namely:

  1. The roof screws provided were too short, so we swapped them out for longer ones.
  2. The roof pieces didn't quite seem to join up as intended and one was cracked.
  3. The roofing material looked worn or used and the edges weren't clean.
  4. The hinges on the nesting box lid weren't predrilled in a functional way. We had to reattach them so they would attach and the lid would open.

Chicken Coop Crack Alignment Chicken Coop Hinge

Chicken Coop Roof Edge Chicken Coop Roof

We were able to work around, ignore, or repair the problems without too much trouble.

Once the coop was ready, all that was left was to build the run to have a permanent home for the adult hens. Belinda designed a large run and she and her dad put it together. This last weekend, they finished it up — including the more challenging task of leveling the corner of the garden where the run would sit — attached the two pieces, filled the base with sand, and took the chickens to their new home.

They have plenty of room to stretch, a place to be protected from the elements, and nest. They've taken to their new home and love being in it.

If you're looking for a great chicken coop plans at a good price, call Chicken Warehouse and see what they can offer you. Belinda loves here new coop and her chickens do, too!