Review: Innovation Pet Deluxe Chicken Coop Kit

We are new to the world of backyard chickens, and we’re loving it! The single biggest expense we had to research, however, was the chicken coop. Now that our girls are living outside full-time, I wanted to give you an honest review of our chicken coop kit: the good, the bad, and some tricks to help you love it as much as we do! This is my review of the Innovation Pet Deluxe Chicken Coop, complete with a video tour at the end!

I didn’t get any kind of compensation from Tractor Supply, nor Innovation Pet, for any of my reviews. So this is honest feedback, which is what you can always expect from RSM! (It also means I can say whatever the hell I want, ha!)

We bought our chicken coop from Tractor Supply Co. after doing lots of research: TSC was having a sale and this coop had great reviews. Overall we love this coop! It’s been great for us and we’re quite happy with it. Look to the end of the article for the direct link to the coop on TSC (not an affiliate link) and for the coop dimensions.

The Good

Overall we love this coop! The instructions and parts, including labeled screws, were all great quality and we had no problem assembling it. (I say we… I mean my husband.)

My favorite thing about it is the many doors and vented windows it has. You have three actual doors to let out the chickens or clean the run, plus a tray to clean under the roosts, a nesting box access door, and two sliding windows/vents. There are small vents under the roof all the way around, too. So lots of ways to access all the various parts, whether it’s checking up on your birds in the middle of the night or just cleaning up you-know-what. ‘Cause there’s always poop when you have chickens!

I also appreciate that the coop uses hardware cloth throughout. Hardware cloth is basically like chicken wire, but with a much smaller opening (1/2 inch), so it’s much more durable and must more challenging for predators to reach in. You can see it on the window below. It’s a sturdy, superior cousin to chicken wire and this coop saved me a lot of time by installing it.

side view: nesting box access, window vent with sliding door

The Bad

The main thing I think is a pain about this coop is the misleading information that says it’s good for “up to eight chickens.” I strongly disagree. I feel like this coop would not comfortably house more than six birds. I’ve done multiple videos about coop hacks, our coop a year later, and roost hacks if you want to see more details on my YouTube channel.

The main issue with their claim is that there isn’t enough roosting space for all of those eight theoretical birds to safely sit. Fluff butts require about 8 inches (if not more, depending on the breed) each. Silkies and bantams would be less of course, as would quail, but not full-size chickens!

I also feel like the should be waterproofed, which it’s not when you get it. So I highly recommend that you use a sealant and coat all of the exterior surfaces (minus the roof) so that it’s not a problem later.

Finally, no chicken coop will have a “yard” or “run” big enough for your birds to happily live in 24/7. So be sure to give them a fenced area outside of the parameter of this coop’s walls.

Some Suggestions

I do have a few affiliate links in this section. Thanks for supporting my birds and I!

First, realize that you don’t need a coop until your birds are fully feathered and have favorable weather. For us that meant our girls were at least eight weeks old and it was at least 75F outside (Texas spring!). So don’t feel like you have to pick a coop right away. Do what you’re doing now: read articles, watch videos, and pick the one that works for you! (And when we did let our chickens go out, we started with a few hours with them locked in the run, so that they grew accustomed to their new home gradually.)

my daughter with the chicks in their new home!

Waterproof your coop! My hubby did this before he even assembled it – get a cheap sealant and apply to the exterior surfaces. Just make sure you let it dry somewhere open and aerated before you let your birds around it.

When you’re ready to build your coop, make sure you know where you want it to go. While you could install wheels like these under the coop so that it can be moved around, this thing is really heavy! You don’t want to be hauling it around the yard.

Speaking of your yard, you need to make the ground level around the edges where your coop will actually touch. We had to use a few bricks and a level, but we got it to be even!

And you’ll want to use some hardware cloth like this to make a perimeter so that predators like raccoons and foxes can’t dig under your coop. It needs to be secured to the coop with a staple gun or something similar. We used the chicken wire, these flat ground stakes to hold the chicken wire down, and then a staple gun to affix the chicken wire to the coop. Sounds complicated, but check out the Coop Hacks video I’ve got so that you can see what I mean!

Here’s the Tractor Supply direct link to the coop (not an affiliate).

Exterior dimensions: 84 in. x 42 in. x 57 in., all including the overhang of the roof.

Interior dimensions: Two roost bars at 22 in. each; nesting boxes are 13 in., 11 in., 13 in. across (so the middle one is a bit narrower).

For building custom roosts, the distance from the roost bar closest to the door up to the roof line opposite is 33 inches; from the doorway entrance to the roof line opposite is 42 inches.

The door at the top of the ramp, which leads inside to the coop upstairs, is approximately  11.25 inches x 11.25 inches. 

The wood paneling around the coop is generally about 0.3 inches thick, but in some places it’s double reinforced.

showing the main door for the chickens

We are really having fun with our backyard feathered friends! They’re like an extension of our family and have been a great investment with our children so far, too. Thanks for sharing as we help spread awareness and fairness for backyard chickens!

Question? Suggestion? Something else you’d like to see on Real Simple Mama? Let me know in the comments, or email me at themama@realsimplemama.com!

Here’s my ten minute video tour complete with the good, the bad, and some suggestions for your chickens! Enjoy and thanks for sharing!