Converting Carport into chicken coop

[Zilphia1932]

My chicks will be arriving sometime in October and I have this carport dog kennel with cement floor that I would like to convert into a coop and brooder space for the chicks. I will need storage space for feed and supplies. I know I’ll need to connect a run for them to forage during the day. Years ago I had Rhode Island reds and within four weeks they were gone. I was allowing them to free range, the new chicks coming in October, once they’re mature, I will not allow them to free range. My property is adjacent to the Sam Houston National Forest. I really get a lot of wildlife traveling through my property. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. This kennel hasn’t been used in a while, so forgive me for all the leaves.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

That looks like it will be great!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

It might work good for a daytime run, depending on how many chickens you have. A safe, secure coop would be necessary, especially how you say there's a lot of wildlife in your area. There is plenty of unknown, nighttime predators that can easily get through that, and I've known that to happen to other people who have had those dog kennels as the only coop. The predators I'm thinking of like to try pulling the chickens through the holes (and can kill a whole young flock in one night).

I do see that the run does have a head up on predator prevention. It is on a cement pad, which is awesome to stop the digging predators. Attaching a predator-proof coop to that run will be highly ideal. You'll want to keep the flock locked inside a predator proof coop at night to avoid nighttime casualties, but for the daytime, the run will be perfect.

On a side note, how many chickens are you getting? If you are getting a lot, the run may be too small. If you're getting a small flock of chickens, then the run size is fine. For comfort of the chickens, you can put dirt over the cement pad for dust baths and those leaves for them to scratch through (and to help keep the run clean).

 

[rosemarythyme]

With enough securing (no chicken wire, no gaps larger than 1/2", a solid wall or two (depending on climate and wind direction) to protect the roosting area, I think this would work great as a skeleton for a coop (bigger flock) or a coop/run combo (smaller flock), or a straight up run (maybe 3-4 birds total).

 

[Zilphia1932]

It might work good for a daytime run, depending on how many chickens you have. A safe, secure coop would be necessary, especially how you say there's a lot of wildlife in your area. There is plenty of unknown, nighttime predators that can easily get through that, and I've known that to happen to other people who have had those dog kennels as the only coop. The predators I'm thinking of like to try pulling the chickens through the holes (and can kill a whole young flock in one night).

I do see that the run does have a head up on predator prevention. It is on a cement pad, which is awesome to stop the digging predators. Attaching a predator-proof coop to that run will be highly ideal. You'll want to keep the flock locked inside a predator proof coop at night to avoid nighttime casualties, but for the daytime, the run will be perfect.

On a side note, how many chickens are you getting? If you are getting a lot, the run may be too small. If you're getting a small flock of chickens, then the run size is fine. For comfort of the chickens, you can put dirt over the cement pad for dust baths and those leaves for them to scratch through (and to help keep the run clean).

Hello and thank you so much for replying to my post! I want to convert the carport into a chicken coop storage area/brooder , I want to take the kennel walls out and build off of the carport but I don’t know how to implement a run with that. I just can’t get a visual of how to do it. Here is the run that I want to attach to the carport for their run.

It might work good for a daytime run, depending on how many chickens you have. A safe, secure coop would be necessary, especially how you say there's a lot of wildlife in your area. There is plenty of unknown, nighttime predators that can easily get through that, and I've known that to happen to other people who have had those dog kennels as the only coop. The predators I'm thinking of like to try pulling the chickens through the holes (and can kill a whole young flock in one night).

I do see that the run does have a head up on predator prevention. It is on a cement pad, which is awesome to stop the digging predators. Attaching a predator-proof coop to that run will be highly ideal. You'll want to keep the flock locked inside a predator proof coop at night to avoid nighttime casualties, but for the daytime, the run will be perfect.

On a side note, how many chickens are you getting? If you are getting a lot, the run may be too small. If you're getting a small flock of chickens, then the run size is fine. For comfort of the chickens, you can put dirt over the cement pad for dust baths and those leaves for them to scratch through (and to help keep the run clean).

hello and thank you for replying to my post! I want to take the carport and convert it into a coop and take out the kennel since the floor is concrete I wanted to attach a run for their protection, I just don’t know how to attach the run that I want to purchase. I just can’t get a visual on how to attach it or if there is a better idea that someone has I would greatly appreciate it. Here is the run that I want to purchase.

With enough securing (no chicken wire, no gaps larger than 1/2", a solid wall or two (depending on climate and wind direction) to protect the roosting area, I think this would work great as a skeleton for a coop (bigger flock) or a coop/run combo (smaller flock), or a straight up run (maybe 3-4 birds total).

hello and thank you for replying to my post! I want to take the carport and converted into a chicken coop, storage area and brooder for my chicks , I bought 15 female chicks . I posted the run that I am considering on buying I just can’t get a visual of how to connect the two together or if anyone has any ideas of a different type of run would be greatly appreciated and again, thank you for replying.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I posted the run that I am considering on buying I just can’t get a visual of how to connect the two together or if anyone has any ideas of a different type of run would be greatly appreciated and again, thank you for replying.

You'll get a better idea if this'll work if you can get exact measurements of the carport vs the run, but off the top of my head I'd maybe take out one of the end wire walls on the run, then "sew" the wire between the coop area and run area together to merge the two halves.

Otherwise you can cut a chicken size hole in the run fence and build a tunnel between the coop area and run area, but in this case I think simply merging the two would be optimal as it would give you a nice large open space to work with.

 

[Zilphia1932]

You'll get a better idea if this'll work if you can get exact measurements of the carport vs the run, but off the top of my head I'd maybe take out one of the end wire walls on the run, then "sew" the wire between the coop area and run area together to merge the two halves.

Otherwise you can cut a chicken size hole in the run fence and build a tunnel between the coop area and run area, but in this case I think simply merging the two would be optimal as it would give you a nice large open space to work with.

I think what’s throwing me off a bit is the frame of the carport on the ground there’s a bar that goes all the way around it and I’m afraid that if I try to attach the carport to the run they’ll be a gap possibly for predators to get through and I don’t want to just rig it up. I want it all to be cohesive. I’ve done a sketch of the carport area with measurements and I’ve been playing around with that . I know I’ve got plenty of time still, so I’m gonna keep looking for different run ideas and come up with a plan of action. Hopefully.Lolololol