Fixing a Coop

[JennilynnS]

Hi guys!

My family and I were gone all day yesterday, and woke up to the front ripped off our chicken coop. I'm sure it was one of my dogs, as she likes to eat fencing to try to get to the neighbors dogs (so she can lay in THEIR yard, not do anything malicious while there.) http://www.precisionpet.com/detail.aspx?ID=200 This is the coop we got because of all the issues we had with myurbanfarmers.com - we were crunched for time, Ran to AnJan, and grabbed what would work best last weekend. After making sure nothing could DIG in, I never thought about my dog eating the wood to get in. *sigh*

Anyway - the front panel is completely thrashed. The door is save-able, as is the cleaning drawer. We will likely have to fix one bar for the cleaning drawer to rest on. But any ideas on how to replace the front panel would be AMAZING!

Luckily we only lost one chick... I don't think my dog ate her - no feathers anywhere. She probably got picked up by an owl or a hawk. Sad morning. We've had nothing but stress surrounding the coop the last two months. I'll likely wrap the rest of the wood with the wire mesh to keep my dog out. But any other ideas to make this dang last minute coop dog proof would also be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry to say, I doubt that you can make that cute little thing safe. Surrounding the whole thing with chainlink fencing, with a dig proof base, and a top, might work (a dog run, maybe). Electric fencing will work for many ground predators, as long as it's legal where you live, and set up right. A garden shed, modified for ventilation, on a dig proof base, would be a very good alternative. Mary

 

[Howard E]

If I understand your problem, the panel surrounding the door is torn up? Do you have any tools to fix this with? If so, replace the panel with pieces of plywood........1/2" or thicker, cut to the same size and dimensions as the panel. It may not look as nice as it did, but should repel dogs and varmints and such. At least in the short term. And do get serious plywood. Yellow pine, fir, etc. Not OSB or some weird and whacky fake plywood. ACX or some such thing.

As Mary suggest, looking on down the road, you need something more substantial if you want your birds to survive and thrive.

The problem with the products these companies make.......and if there are 10 such outfits per state.......there must be over 500 such outfits in the US making these death traps..........they are not made to house chickens. Not seriously. They are made to look like something that might house chickens, but in reality are just a product made to sell. The sad news is I believe the folks who make these are as ill informed as the folks they sell them to. I have yet to see a truly good one.

What really hurts is when you realize that if you did it yourself, you can have twice the coop for half the price. I realize not everyone has the time or skills needed to bang one of these out, but you will be miles ahead if you are able to go that route.

 

[JennilynnS]

Thanks for your replies - yes this was meant to be a temporary fix until we could build something more substantial around the cute coop. The crappiest part is my husband is in construction so we have the tools & are fully capable. But I was lead to believe the other coop we ordered was much sturdier and then we were out of time. Seems like the common theme is us newbies join the forums after we order the stinkin' coops!! I need something to get me through October when the busy season for my business slows a bit.

Good call about measuring the gap - in my panic I haven't been thinking too clearly. I'm planning on getting much sturdier wood at the hardware store tomorrow. We've never used siding before - I've looked around for a few ideas on how to build a front panel that looks similar. If anyone knows of a link with instructions on building a panel/whole coop that would be awesome! It's likely something I'm going to work on while my husband is working and I am certainly not an engineer. I can follow directions though