dog igloo for a coop? ideas?

[jennybee]

i have a large dog igloo i am thinking of turning into a coop...it just has the entrance hole. do i need a second door to get to the eggs? i could reach into the thing and get to nesting boxes if need be.
the floor is plastic but has a little lip near the entrance that may make clean out difficult. perhaps remove the floor and replace with wood, or just saw the lip off so i could just sweep it out?
i was thinking i could make a removable run in an arch shape to match the shape of the door, extending out about eight feet.
there is a vent type hole in the roof, it is somehow covered so rain won't get in. how much ventilation do i need?
does anyone have any input? anything else i would need? perch inside the house?

 

[Chickenmaven]

You could use a plastic crate for a nest box. As for clean up - if it small enough or if you have a helper, you could just shake it out. You might want to consider whether you intend to shut them in a night; if not, you could build a super secure run and have a roost outside.
Some ideas. I am sure there will be more to come.

 

[coffeelady3]

If I remember correctly, and it appears to be so from the picture, the top can be separated from the bottom. I would think that would make cleaning pretty darn easy. Just lift off the top, carry the bottom over to the compost pile, and dump! Without the lip on the front all of your shavings are going to end up outside the coop. My main concern with those is the lack of ventilation and the inability to lock them in at night. If you have Fort Knox for a run, the door isn't as big of an issue, but increasing ventilation while keeping the inside dry may be a bit trickier. Come to think of it, Fort Knox might solve both those problems. (No door, more air flow) It could definitely work!

For a nest box, you could make one that can be outside in the run. Check out some of the ones made from 5 gallon buckets. They would stay dry, and would leave more room inside. As for roosts, I made a free standing roost for my dog house coop. It even has attached droppings boards. Here's a pic.

 

[jennybee]

thanks guys! i know you can buy a door for them, but i don't think they are too secure. i think a really secure run would be best. i didn't think of putting the boxes outside...i will have to look into those bucket ones like you mentioned. and the perch looks simple to make too.

 

[coffeelady3]

Here's a link to one forum that had pics of bucket nest boxes...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=69355

 

[SewingDiva]

Quote:
There are folks here on BYC who have Eglu's (the small size), they look very simliar to your dog igloo and instead of attaching a run to the opening they just built a run around it like a big box and placed the Eglu inside on the ground. I thought that was a pretty good idea! Simpler to make too, as opposed to attaching it to the opening.

There was a photo posted a while back on this idea and it was pretty good...I'll try to find it.

Phyllis