RowlinsonChicken Coop, Large

Disappointed with the quality, arrived damaged, poor workmanship, supplier offered replacement panels. Needed quickly so repaired our selves. Poor quality timber used. Not suitable for amateur build.

Looks good, needs two to construct.

I saw this coop as an investment, an investment into organic free range eggs produced on my land. Rather than spend a long weekend planning and building one myself and put off by some of the reviews of cheaper ones available, I decided to go for this.If you read the other review you will see the buyer was forced to change, reinforce, alter etc their coop. I have similarly had a number of troubles that have forced me to take time to rectify and this should not be expected at this price point. The tray that you can slide out for cleaning was warped on arrival and has always left a gap allowing wind to blow in, the nest box roof is very poorly made and I have had to construct a new roof for this to stop water getting in, there are gaps literally everywhere that allow wind in. Perhaps it is a standard feature to have a door at the front that can just fall away when closed if the ramp is removed? For me this is a massive flaw when fox proofing.My recommendation would be to save some money and opt for a cheaper one. Perhaps then you will get what you pay for.

I bought the smaller version. Would totally agree with comments that your DIY skills need to be pretty good! The rear door needed planing as wouldn't fit. Had to put a stopper on base of front door as worried that if a fox knocked over ramp, door would simply knock to floor. Also one of my hens flew onto roof of laying box and easily flipped it off- another catch needed! I also know I will have to put wood filler in some of large holes between some slats before winter arrives. On a positive note- it looks lovely painted!

I need to make something clear right away, which is that this is a natural timber product, and natural timber expands, contracts, and distorts, so you can't expect it to click together like a cheap chipboard flatpack. So, make sure the base is level, and expect a bit of fettling here and there to make the fit perfect, no problem for the average DIYer, and you will not be disappointed. The end result looks great. Being natural wood if something ever breaks you can easily make a replacement, and you can add your own design improvements too, e.g. I added a guide to make the poop tray slide into place easier, and I made a more substantial roost rack (whatever you call it). I'm happy. I originally considered making my own from scratch, but I couldn't source this quality of timber for this price, so it just didn't make sense.[Edit 13/5/14] The picture shown above has changed, it no longer shows the sliding door which you need if you want to attach an automatic door controller (for now the old picture is still shown in thumbnail pictures). I tried posting my own picture of the other side of the coop, but I see this has been deleted. If the coop doesn't have this feature then it isn't the coop I reviewed, and I'd be wary about buying it without checking further. Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding, and they'll soon post an official picture showing the correct pop hole.[Edit 30/8/14] I recently discovered Trimble SketchUp, which is a great design tool for woodworking and DIY. I used it to create a model of this coop, and I've posted a cutaway picture that lets you see what the inside looks like. See the picture gallery.