Dog Kennel Coop

so cool love this idea very good idea might have to steal it would have to think up some kind of winter weather stuff though

I had written a long comment, but it wouldn't post it!!! I had lots of comments on your chain link chicken coop. That's what I used, too. I bought the top, have tarps on all sides, that I can bungie up from the bottom on 2 sides when it's hot weather. I also have 2 dog kennels inside, that I lock my chickens in at night. I have roosts that fit in the holes on the sides of the dog kennels. The chickens like to dig (scratch) holes in the dirt, so it isn't even around the bottom, which concerns me, about predators digging in. Shortly after I got mine put up, the neighbor's dog came and dug holes in my tarps and the chain link fence! I was just sick!!
Hope this makes sense! It's hard to put in writing!!

Did you put the hardware cloth over the door opening too? When it's cold, I cover my door with a tarp. I also have tarps to cover the dog cages with. The door of the fence isn't very wide. I unhooked the chain link on one end to put the dog cages inside. They wouldn't fit thru the door!
I have been letting my chickens free range, but the neighbor's dog got one and tore out alot of her feathers! We are nursing her back to health now, hopefully!! Enjoyed your info and pictures. Wish my whole comments would have fit on here!! Didn't realize it was limited!! How did you get all your info and pictures on??

Yes, there's hardware cloth over the door as well. I have't had a single predator problem yet but if there were any dog digging around it, one option would be to sink some wood into the ground all around it to prevent something digging in.
We are in south Florida and we have very mild winters, we only got our chickens this spring so they haven't been through any extreme cold or heat yet.

zip ties get brittle and break after awhile outside. If that happens to you, you could replace them with hog ties from home depot. Lowe's doesn't carry them. Nice functional coop! Have you seen the nests made out of 5 gallon buckets? The girls probably wouldn't hang out on top of those.

Joan, I was JUST talking about those buckets with my husband. Still working out a few ideas but I have a feeling I'll be going with the buckets and seeing how those work out since they are the cheapest method, although not the best looking, lol.
I figured the zip ties might not last that long, but we've got a ton of them here so I can replace them as they break. I have heard of some that are UV resistant, just haven't looked into buying them yet.

We put up a 4' fence around the chicken coop today. I was so pleased and thought it would end alot of problems,like the chickens wandering off to our neighbors, and digging in the garden, and in the yard, and dogs getting them. Much to my dismay, I later saw Speckles perched on top of the fence and then she flew down to join Dilly Dilly (my guinea), and Molly on the ground outside the fence!!! So now I'm not sure what to do!!!

Even my little Silkie rooster can actually fly up to some of our higher roosts in the coop.... the solid top on the coop keeps the chickens from flying out and hawks and owls from flying in ;-)

I like the dog fence it keeps the predators out, and we have a lot!!!! I think we will get the tarp to offer shade and to keep them in,lol... Thanks for the info..

Looks like the top sides are open?? My cover fits down on the sides so there is no opening. Enjoy your chickens!! I put up the 4' fence around the outside of the coop, on 2 sides for a run. That's the fence the hens flew over!! They did better today. Only 1 guinea flew over and got out!! She led me to a nest with 20 eggs in it!!! My regular hens had laid eggs there too!! What a surprise!!!

Double check the description above, there's a solid top under the roof, nothing can get in or fly out this is what the solid top looks like that you can't see in the photo.

BTW Heather I love your birds they are adorable!!!!

I loved the idea of putting branches through the dog pen sides. I did that today. We put together two of the 10' chain link dog pens. The coop has 6 brooding boxes in it, right now we have 6- 5week old chicks, and so far have put them in the pen for 5 minutes and they had a fit!! So they are back in the tub in the house for awhile longer. Your pen looks great. I wanted to be able to move ours also, but it's too big now, so I guess i'll have to let them out of the run for awhile during the day. I raised ducks, but chickens are a whole different story I'm finding out!!

I need to take a recent photo of the branches in there now...it's like a jungle gym in there and they LOVE it. The higher they can climb the better they like it, lol.

This is just what I've been looking for - I've toyed with the idea of getting some chickens for years but we've never gotten around to it. A friend is selling a 10x10x6 dog pen and my husband thought it might make a good chicken coop. When i saw your post with pictures I knew it was time to go forward. So.... I'm going to get started on my chicken coop. I'll keep you posted. I'm in central Ga. but am also a FL native. We have coons, owls, possums, hawks, dogs and cats so we have lots of predators but hopefully we can keep the chickens safe when we get them. Wish me luck!

I'm loving this coop so far and the chickens do too ;-) Our main predators are hawks and owls, haven't seen a raccoon or possum on or around our property yet. If you do have a big problem with them, you might want to sink some boards or wire in the ground around the coop so they can't dig under it. Although if you do that, it won't be easily moved, it would have to be permanent.

Thanks for the info and picture of the top covering. Do you have any supports going across under it? That's what we hadn't figured out before I bought the tarp covering on top! My tarp that I ordered for the top fits down on the top front and back, so there is no gap from the peak down to the frame. I can't find the name of the company right now, without looking more. Sounds like alot of work to dig down and put some fencing or boards under ground to keep predators out!! I'm not sure how you would do it??? I have cement blocks on top of the tarps that are covering the sides of the pen, and extend about 2 ft. on the ground. I think that might help some to keep predators from digging under. In the daytime when it's warm, I lift up the tarps on 2 sides, about 2 ft, and secure them with bungie cords.

I had a neighbor's dog dig and rip the tarps and make holes in the chainlink fence in several places, a few days after we got it put up!! I was just sick!! We couldn't get the fencing bent back like it originally was, but did our best, and then wired it to repair it!! Our hen that was attacked by another dog 2 wks ago is doing well! We had been spraying her with med.--$30 a bottle!! I have tried putting her back with the others for a little while, but she is now like a "new kid on the block" and a couple of other hens are putting her in her place, so I stand guard for now!! She started getting her new feathers, but still has some bare skin in spots, and I don't want her pecked!!!