Dog house as chicken coop?

[Agilityscots]

I looked up the Mother Earth News plan and noticed they used a plastic dog house...I thought coops had to be made from wood for warmth??

I did look at Petsmart's pages, but they don't have anything that's nearly as big as the Petco house, nor anything with a removable roof/front door already attached. My husband was VERY attracted to the 20-minute assembly time. ;-) I've tried to get him to build the one on Ebay but he just won't bite.

I'll keep scouting around for another free dog house; he says he can cut through vinyl, so I'll talk to the woman on Freecyle and get info on that dog house.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Bailey]

Our hens have run the dog out of his plastic house- handy for us- eggs on the back porch. They "free range" the general area- and chose the doghouse... and one of my nail bins in the tool shed and a bag of peat moss in the garden shed ... and...

As for winter- we stacked straw bales around and loose straw inside their "house" and had stacks of straw bales providing windbreaks oriented south so they could sun themselves. They made it through the winter (Below zero - ice storm that took out our electricity for a week.) just fine.

 

[tiffanyh]

I found a doghouse kit with shipping for $125. Now, dont be scared by the kit, it took 20 minutes by myself to put it together. I stained it with deck stain and cut a plywood door and popped it on.

It is pretty cute though, the one your looking at! Just do a search on google and Im pretty sure you can find the same one for a bit cheaper--even the same one on EBAY.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

Looks nice!


I have a friend not handy @ all! she bought
something a little cheaper for chickens!

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/chick_n_hutch.html

click n hutch added some things for winter put up dog pen (someone gave her!)

around it added chicken wire @ bottom and garden net on top!

looks cute & works

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I really like that dog house. If you both like it and the money's not a problem for you, I say go for it! It's really cute and has much better styling than most dog houses. People have built little coops for less and people have started to build little coops and spent a whole lot more.

A nest box and roosts aren't hard to add. Make sure you have good latches on the door and roof. Upgrade or add them, if you need to. Make sure the slats are sturdy enough over the windows and door. If you have any doubts, just put some hardware cloth over them on the inside. Any adjustments you make will still be much less trouble than starting from scratch.

I wish I had ordered a dog house like that, instead of going through the nightmare that our chicken tractor has become. How can a person make such a simple thing, so complicated?

I had to come inside, before I picked up a large blunt object... And to think, we've been happily married all these years and done many enjoyable projects together. I don't know what happened this time!

As I said, if you're both happy with it, you should go for it!

 

[Agilityscots]

Woodland Woman, you made me laugh! I've been married ten years and somehow, we can still nearly kill each other on projects like this. I'm sure that's another thing my DH would like to avoid.

I'd like to get the most economical coop and run that I can for my money, with the most space (don't we all??). My husband also wants it to look nice, and that dog house surely does...we don't want to tick off our neighbors with shabby used dog houses and sheds. My husband would be willing to build something but only if it's easy and straightforward...but you know how those projects go. They always end up more expensive than what you thought they'd be, and take longer than they're supposed to!!

Amy

 

[Agilityscots]

Great news! Thanks to Tiffanyh, I found the same version of this dog house on Amazon for only $159! I think this seals the deal. This morning DH and I talked about purchasing plans and building a coop, but I just can't resist this now that I've found it so cheap. Now, before I actually purchase it, I want to make ABSOLUTELY sure it's big enough for four hens: the internal dimensions are 33L x 29W x 27H. I will have two Dominiques, a Buff Orpington and a Golden-Laced Wyandotte. Will it be big enough?? They will have a run, too; that I know we can make pretty easily.

Thanks to everyone for your help!! I can't imagine what I would have done without this message board!!

Amy

 

[mom'sfolly]

Here's a link for a coop I considered buying. The company also makes much cheaper dog houses.
http://www.enasco.com/ProductDetail.do?sku=Z40902N

karen

 

[hensnchix]

I'm new to chickens and have also been considering the dog house idea for a coop. (And I have to get this together SOON as our chicks are getting big much faster than I expected!) One thought--wouldn't it be awfully hard to clean inside a dog house and get the eggs? I'm wondering if there's a way to take off one half of the roof and then attach it back on with hinges.

I've seen a lot of nice redwood rabbit hutches on our local Craigslist...seems like that might work, too, if you add a little ladder and if the roof lifted.

Susan
(who hardly knows what she's talking about!)

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Some of the dog houses are already made with roofs that either come off or are hinged. You can also add a hinge to the roof, instead of mounting it permanently, if it doesn't come with a hinge.

My neighbors use a little dog house sized coop and have to put the food and water outside. If you cover part of your run, it will help protect the feeder from the weather.