Comparing Pre-Fab Chicken Coops and Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits

When we were comparing barns, we noticed chicken coops. More and more of our neighbors are raising chickens. We hear roosters from every direction in the morning and we see chickens in fenced yards every time we walk the dog.

Chicken Barn – Gambrel Barn Coop from the Little Cottage Company

One of the houses has a little barn with a chicken ramp going into it. This morning I saw one on Pinterest that looks like the same little chicken barn, maybe.

Little Cottage Co. Sara’s Victorian Mansion DIY Kit - Project Small House — Little Cottage Co. Sara’s Victorian Mansion DIY Kit

I clicked on it and it is by the Little Cottage Co., who makes the Victorian playhouses.

We had chickens when I was a kid. At first, the chicken coop came with the farm we rented. Then Dad built a chicken coop. It was big. We had too many chickens, too.

Little Cottage Company Colonial Gable Chicken Coop Kit

Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits

Little Cottage Company has two Chick House kits, the Gambrel Barn Coop, like the one I saw, and a Colonial Gable Coop, more like a traditional chicken coop.

They are available in two sizes, 4’ x 6’ and 6’ x 8’.

These Chicken Coops allow you to have fresh eggs from your backyard! There are several great reasons to raise your own chickens: easy to manage, endless supply of fresh eggs, as well as free fertilizer and something to eat your weeds and garden pests. And what better way to house your feathered friends then with one of our quality built chicken coops!

www.littlecottageco.com/product/gambrel-barn-coop-panelized-kit

These come as kits. You build them yourself. You can even order them on Amazon.

Little Cottage Co Chicken Coops on Amazon

What’s in the kit?

Step-by-step instruction manual
All necessary hardware; Screws, Latches, Handles, Nails
One Window
14” x 21” working window with tempered glass and screen
One Entry Door
One Chicken Door with Ramp
Nesting Boxes with Exterior Egg Access
4 x 6: 4 nesting bins for 8 to 12 hens
6 x 8: 6 Nesting Bins for 8 to 22 hens
Aluminum Gable Vent

They are delivered in pre-fab panelized sections. Just like prefab houses.

“Panelized means the walls are in prefabbed sections, everything else is precut and labeled for you! NO EXTRA CUTTING!“

www.littlecottageco.com/product/gambrel-barn-coop-panelized-kit

Window

One Window
14” x 21” working window with tempered glass and screen

The kit comes with one window. They show the window set low. I know our chickens preferred to sleep at night close to the ceiling of our chicken coop. That way they wouldn’t get spooked by seeing things out the window when they are winding down at night.

The Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits have a window and nesting bins.

Pedestrian Door on the Gambrel Barn Coop from the Little Cottage Company

Entry Door

One Entry Door

Inside the Little Cottage Company Colonial Gable Chicken Coop Kit

The entry door is big. You want it big. This allows you to easily get in there and keep the coop clean and maintained.

The ramp allows the chickens to easily walk into their house. Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits — The ramp allows the chickens to easily walk into their house.
Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits

Chicken Door with Ramp

One Chicken Door with Ramp

The chicken door has a latch, so that if you have predators, you can close the chickens in at night.

We thought we would have to round up chickens or something at night if we wanted to lock them in, but they just went home by themselves when it started getting dusk. (Our guinea fowl went to someone else’s home at night and never came back.)

The chicken door can be latched from the side or from the bottom.

This photo shows the door hinged on the side, with the latch on the other side. There is a hook to keep the door from swinging closed during the day. You don’t have to remove the ramp to close the door at night.

The chicken door can be closed and latched. Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits — The chicken door can be closed and latched.
Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits

This photo shows the door hinged at the bottom with the latch at the top. Gravity keeps it open, but you have to move the ramp to close it.

The nesting box has access from outside. The lid hooks, so you can reach the eggs easily. Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits

Nesting Boxes

Nesting Boxes with Exterior Egg Access
4 x 6: 4 nesting bins for 8 to 12 hens
6 x 8: 6 Nesting Bins for 8 to 22 hens

The nesting box has access from outside. The lid hooks, so you can reach the eggs easily.

The 4 x 6 coop has 4 nesting bins for 8 to 12 hens. The 6 x 8 coop has 6 Nesting Bins for 8 to 22 hens.

The Little Cottage Company 4' x 6' Chicken Coop Kits have 4 nesting bins for 8 to 12 hens — The Little Cottage Company 4′ x 6′ Chicken Coop Kits have 4 nesting bins for 8 to 12 hens

The nest bins can be reached easily from outside. We fed the chickens first, that way no chickens were on the nest. Some chickens prefer to keep their eggs. They would peck at us or whap us with their wings.

The nest boxes are pretty basic, but they are really all you need. Just give them some hay.

There is a vent to keep the chickens cooler in the summer. It closes to keep them warmer in the winter. There is wire over it, so chickens won't get lost and predators won't get in. Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits — There is a vent to keep the chickens cooler in the summer. It closes to keep them warmer in the winter.
There is wire over it, so chickens won’t get lost and predators won’t get in.
Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop Kits

Aluminum Gable Vent

The website says there is an aluminum gable vent. This is the vent that is shown in the pictures. It is big enough to actually vent the chicken coop.

The vent window has screen over it. It is big enough to let the heat out in the summer, but it shuts tightly for the winter.

Roost

Chickens like to sit up high at night to sleep. This board is a chicken bed.

Floor

Unlike other little house kits, the chicken coop includes a floor. Paint it so that it will be easier to clean.

The inside barn roof of the Little Cottage Company Gambrel Barn Coop Kit

Ceiling

This is what the ceiling looks like in the chicken barn. Even though chickens won’t get the ceiling as dirty as they will the floor, I would still recommend you paint everything inside.

What’s not in the kit?

“With these kits, the customer provides the shingles, drip edge, and paint.”

www.littlecottageco.com/product/gambrel-barn-coop-panelized-kit

The chicken coops come primed and ready to paint, but you paint them whatever color you want.

It comes with the basic roof, but you choose the shingles you want. Or put on a metal roof.

They say they also have them available completely pre-built in color choices with 25 Year Shingles.

Little Cottage Company Chicken Coop with wheels

Chicken Coop on Wheels

Little Cottage Company Chicken Coops are also available with wheels. I found these at www.betterchickencoops.com.

Can’t you imagine Dick and Jane pulling this around with Spot chasing along behind?

Chicken Coop from Carolina Storage Solutions

The Chicken Coop Collection from Carolina Storage Solutions

Carolina Storage Solutions has The Chicken Coop Collection. They sell four chicken coop models in three sizes, 4′ x 8′, 6′ x 8′ or 8′ x 12′. You can get them with a run under the coop, an extended roofed run, or no run at all. They have a chicken door with a ramp, an entry door (for a human), a drop vent to give the chicken coop more ventilation when it is hot out, two windows and nesting boxes with exterior egg access. If there is a run, the run has a fence door.

Every chicken coop comes with these features.

What’s Included?