Dog house to coop - help!

[Jackie U]

Super new chicken girl here! My not-super-handy-but-figuring-it-out-husband (he’s trying!) is working on converting an old dog house to a second coop until we are able to build something bigger later this summer. The first picture is the first coop I got; currently 3 hens sleep in it overnight but run in a larger space during the day. The person I got the first 3 hens from is rehoming 3 more to me this weekend as she’s moving and downsizing her flock. I realize my first coop is probably too small for 6 hens even just at night. I’ve also noticed that the oldest hen is picking on the little pullet- when they go in at night the pullet hides in the corner and the old gal often chases her back in the coop during the day. So I’m looking to convert this dog house to a second coop and will perhaps keep the younger girls in there at night and the older girls in the other coop.
1- thoughts on set up of first coop? We live in Northern Ca, coldest temps at night are in low 40’s during winter time. Is it too open? Any suggestions on roosting bar and nesting boxes? I put another roosting bar a up on the left hand side running parallel but higher up than the nesting boxes- just haven’t taken a pic yet.

2- suggestions on conversion of dog house...we took the roof and the back off to move it because it was so dang heavy to will secure it back on after we get set up complete. Was planning to put chicken wire door on the front that they will go in and out of and will close at night to protect from predators. Then cut a vent/small chicken wire window in the back. Put a small door on the side to reach in and collect eggs. Then roosting bar from the front to the back. Any other ideas on the layout? Looking for recommendatiins before we completely butcher this thing. Also- should I try to elevate it at all or is it fine on the ground since it will be enclosed at night?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

 

[rosemarythyme]

1. Your temperatures are extremely mild so no reason to close it up at all during winter. Are the current chickens using the nests and roosts as they currently are? If so, then the layout is fine.

2. Probably will be fine on the ground, though I worry more about moisture than pests. If this is short term (like a year or so) I'd just leave it on the ground. BTW - chicken wire is NOT predator proof so I'd suggest looking into hardware cloth or small opening welded wire (no larger than 1/2")

 

[Jackie U]

1. Your temperatures are extremely mild so no reason to close it up at all during winter. Are the current chickens using the nests and roosts as they currently are? If so, then the layout is fine.

2. Probably will be fine on the ground, though I worry more about moisture than pests. If this is short term (like a year or so) I'd just leave it on the ground. BTW - chicken wire is NOT predator proof so I'd suggest looking into hardware cloth or small opening welded wire (no larger than 1/2")

Thank you! Yes they are using as is, in addition to roost we added on the left side. The dog house is raised off the ground on 2 4x4’s so the bottom isn’t directly on the ground. I’ll look into welded wire- thank you! Is there a particular layout for inside the coop you recommend that will allow pullets or smaller hens to retreat from the head hen? Or am I fine fo split them into two groups at night based on size?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you! Yes they are using as is, in addition to roost we added on the left side. The dog house is raised off the ground on 2 4x4’s so the bottom isn’t directly on the ground. I’ll look into welded wire- thank you! Is there a particular layout for inside the coop you recommend that will allow pullets or smaller hens to retreat from the head hen? Or am I fine fo split them into two groups at night based on size?

You can try having them split up into 2 groups but the chickens may disagree with that.

Since you now have 2 roost bars, are they far enough apart that birds on one bar cannot actively pick on a bird on the other bar?

One other thing you could try is to put up some sort of divider on the roost itself. People have used everything from plywood, cardboard, even feed bags, hung up like a curtain to partition off parts of the roost so that the bully can't see the other bird(s) next to them.