The Orpington Lodge Hen House Chicken Coop

We have been raising chickens for 4 years now in a cheap beginner coop I paid $250 at our local feed store. It was cheap and flimsy and we lost a lot of chickens to weather and predators. For the past 2 years my poor chickens have been roosting on top of what was left of the roofless, doorless coop and topless layer box. I did have a 6 ft. covered fence by then and it is backed up against a large shed for protection. I have lost no chickens since this was built.We have learned a lot and did a lot of research this past year on coops. almost everything you can buy is made of the same cheap materials. I spent hours reading everything everyone wrote on all the chicken coops of any good size. I wanted a sturdy one and a large one for at least 12 regular size hens. Finding a coop big enough to house 6 hens is hard enough.When I researched the Chicken Coop Company I went to their home cite and read many five star glowing reviews and was impressed with what the people wrote as well as the company responses. I found my coop and I could not wait to get it. It said it would come in two boxes; it came in one and it was barely bigger than this $135 rabbit hutch for 1-2 rabbits I just bought that morning. I looked for the other box but my box said one of one boxes on it. I hired a well recommended person to build it and when He opened the box and I saw the size of the full front back and sides I couldn't believe how small they were and I'm thinking "3 roosting bars where?" I went straight to the computer and looked up the coop again I had bought the Orpington lodge and not the Rhode Island. Ok ill just do with this until i can buy another mad that i was going to have to spend even more money two small houses instead of one big one, but the Orpington was supposed to be in two boxes as well, and it still looked huge in the picture using the words large and roomy. Oh well at least its built good and ill be happy in the long run.It said it was made out of hardwood and it was made with the same soft wood the other coops are made of. the wire on the bottom may be of better quality than the old coop but that's the only part of the old coop still standing. The latches bend easy, a part was missing and a piece of wood was split. The box had holes on the corners at delivery so damage and part loss could have been delivery and not the store. But I had to use wood glue and buy parts and latches to get it built and the poop drawer does not slide in and out without a lot of manipulation and gets stuck every inch or so. I remember reading (a company reply to a question) I could send it back but it was the customers responsibility to pay for shipping. Cheaper to just buy the stuff to fix it. Worst of all the wood split several times screwing the screws in, especially the chicken run and it had to be shored up. I started to rate it a three but I can't; because I am not happy with this $489 purchase. At least it is under a covered area so maybe it will last longer.I still need to purchase another coop for the chickens but I may as well buy a cheaper one as they are made of the same wood and it was at least 6 mo.'s before fix and repair daily started..

This looked nice and seemed to be a good fit for our 8 chickens, but it's really only good for about 5-6 chickens. So, I built a cheep coop for about $120 worth of materials from Home Depot and all of our chickens prefer laying in the homemade coop rather than this - I'm assuming that it may be a little stuffy for Arizona. All in all, it looks nice and would be great for 4 chickens. I question the durability as there was some minor damage when we received it (it's made of very soft wood) and the latch to pull the door shut broke within a week. It's functional, but for the price and less than a day's worth of your time, just save the money and make your own.

This is a cute chicken coop. The structure, color and style work nicely for our chickens. There is enough room for the 13 chickens we have. My only issue was the drill holes were off on a few spots and the vent doors fall off. We had to rig it a little to make certain pieces fit. The roof was delivered cracked but probably because of the rough shipping. All the outside pieces were exposed when delivered, almost no cardboard where ties wore into box. This is nicer than other coops I shopped around for. It is pretty sturdy compared to similar store versions. I would still purchase it again even though there were some flaws.

UPDATE: ALMOST COMPLETELY WORTHLESS LESS THAN A YEAR OF USE. THIS IS NOT FIT FOR WET ENVIRONMENTS. THERE IS MILDEW GROWING INSIDE THE ENTIRE COOP BECAUSE IT HAS LEAKED SINCE DAY 1 AND IT IS NOT MADE WITH TREATED LUMBER.***Falling apart after less than 5 months use in Pennsylvania weather. We'll keep using it because our girls need a place to nest at night (locked up from the predators). Basically, go to the lumberyard/hardware store and buy $500 worth of treated lumber and build something more durable. A box with a sloped roof will suffice and it'll last longer.I WILL give them props for design and locks. I did add a few things to make it more cozy for our hens (2x1's on top the perches because my girls wouldn't sleep on them unless they were widened), and an extra lock on the sliding door.Anyhow, we will simply keep altering & repairing this one because we spent so much on it. Also, fair warning in case you decide to buy this, the sliding door (at the ramp) will stick in wet weather and make you want to take a sledgehammer to the coop. It's maddening when you're trying to lock your girls in at night or let then out at 5:30 and the rain is pelting you...oh, imagine the fun I'll have this winter!

Easy to assemble and clean. Just to small for my 8 Chickens

Easy to build. I put this together with my 4 y.o. daughter. Ended up painting with a clear coat just to give it more durability but it would have survived just fine. Well made, packed pretty well. A few pieces came slightly damaged in transit, but I just clamped and glued them back together. Not a big deal. Nice hen house. So much better than the old one its replacing. Happy hens.

I live in NY. The coop is not equipped for winter. The door freezes and I am not able to open it. I have moved the chickens back into my old coop.