Dog Crate for Coop??

[yellowflower]

I have 2 large dog crates that I would like to use as coops so I can seperate some roosters for winter. Has anyone else done this? And how would you keep them warm for winter? I'm thinking bales of hay. Do you think that would be enough?
Thanks!

 

[yellowflower]

Any ideas out there?

 

[jerseygirl1]

That's what I'm doing right now for two new bantams I bought, and last month I had two other bantams in there, for a month to get acquainted. Works for me. They can see each other quite well, but no bad behavior from anyone so far
I don't use heat in my coop.

 

[yellowflower]

Thanks, are you planning on keeping them in there for the winter? I need quick coops for seperating roosters. I'm wondering if it would be warm enough for just 2 or three silkies.

 

[txchickie]

My silkies have two of those HUGE dogloo insulated dog houses in their pen for their "coops". It works perfectly, I have them facing east and there's no draft at all coming in.
I keep them full of deep, clean shavings and they stay super warm in there. It was 23 degrees this morning when I went out to feed and I stuck my hand in one of the dogloos (out of curiosity) and it was noticeably warmer in it. The way they're designed, the rain and wet stays out of them, too.

Best of all, I found both dogloos BRAND NEW at a garage sale for $10 each

ETA: I have 8 silkies and 5 sleep in one house and 3 sleep in the other

There's plenty of room, a saint bernard dog could stretch out easily in them.

 

[yellowflower]

Wow, I'm going to be looking for some of those. Right now I just have the plastic dog crates. Do you have any pictures?

 

[emrys]

I have 4 little speckled sussex in a Furrarri dog crate. It's the large size, about 42" long, 24" wide and 36" high. The crate is under a leanto that keeps it out of the pouring rain and provides a small amount of covered space for food, water and dustbath pan. There are perches just above the pine litter but so far they are sleeping in the back corner. I put hardware cloth over the door and top vents just to make it a bit more secure. It would provide plenty of roosting space for a couple of grown chickens.

 

[jerseygirl1]

I have used the plastic dog crates, but found that my hens could not 'see' the new chickens I had in the crates, so I was given a metal dog crate, large one. This way they could all see each other but not hurt any of them. I keep this inside the coop, and for the two new bantams I got last week, I added a tree limb in there for them to roost on, since they were roosting on the hanging feeder and pooping in their food. Now, I keep mine inside the coop, so I would't know about keeping them warm for winter

 

[yellowflower]

I have a calf hutch and was going to put one of the crates inside of it with hay around it. So they would have double protection against wind and snow. It has vents (the calf hutch) at the top so I'm thinking this will work for 3 or 4 silkies. Now to figure out the rest. LOL Thanks!

 

[Beau coop]

Quote:
How to you have the inside set up for roost and nest boxes? is it easy to clean? Do you have a run attached?