I had a hen go inconveniently broody before the new, larger coop with the built-in broody breaker was complete. Since the Little Monitor Coop is only 4x4 I could not put a wire cage inside and had to come up with something that I could put into the run.
I managed to come up with a large, wire dog crate, 28"w x 42"l x 30"h. It was much larger than it needed to be, but better too big than too small.
It didn't have a wire floor above the pan and the wires on the bottom were widely-spaced so I flipped it over and used it upside down.
I put it beside the feeder/waterer shelter so that it would be easy to attend to her, so that she would remain in the heart of the flock, and so that the existing structure would provide additional shelter against weather.
I put the upside-down crate onto a small pallet to ensure good airflow underneath and used some scrap metal roofing/siding that we had from one of our sheds as the roof, weighting it down with several concrete blocks. If you don't have any scrap roofing, a small tarp would work. You could even use the pan as a roof. But I bungeed it to the windward end to act as a weather-proof wall.
Feed, water, and a random chunk of 4x4 to act as a perch completed the setup.
The first night when she saw the flock going into the coop, Cordon was absolutely frantic -- flapping wildly, throwing herself against the wire, and upsetting her water. She settled onto the perch after it got dark and went straight to that perch at dark the next night. 4 days later she rejoined the flock.
Note: in wetter, windier, or colder weather I'd have leaned another chunk of scrap metal roofing against the side that I left open but since it was dry and hot I chose not to.
Important: This is NOT a predator-proof build and should be used only inside a protected area such as my electric net fence.
