Dog kennel as run

[Agilityscots]

Hi everyone,

DH and I are nearly finished with our coop. I put the primer on today, and will probably do most of the painting tomorrow. Phew! I can't wait to be done, and get my girls outside!

Now that we're almost finished, neither of us are in the mood to build anything or do any more projects for a while. Thinking about putting in a run is almost too much right now. I was thinking that a dog kennel, slightly modified for predators, would be a good option. TSC sells a 10x10 kennel for $240. What do you all think of this idea? I know several of you use these...would love to hear your thoughts on whether they're working or not before I spend the money.

Amy

P.S. Even though we've had fun building our coop, it's cost way too much...we could have had a huge shed from Home Depot for roughly the same amount. Hence the "pre fab" run idea.

 

[Wolfpacker]

I have a dog kennel. Last year, I put chicken wire around the bottom perimeter and over the top. Nothing ever dug under, but something came through the top and I lost my RIRs.

This year, I put hardware cloth around the bottom around the perimeter. Actually, I just laid it on the ground around the outside and sat the kennel on top of it. If something wants to dig in, it has to get at least 3 feet away before it can start digging. Otherwise both the hardware cloth and the chickenwire from last year will stop it. I've spread leaves over the cloth and wire and you can't even tell they're there.

For the top, I built a wooden frame and affixed hardware cloth to it. Mine is 12 x 8, so my frame consist of three 4 x 8 sections. I've used treated poles inside as support for the crossmembers of the frame and affixed it to the chain link frame with U-bolts.

So far so good, with the exception of something reaching through the chain link a couple of weeks ago and grabbing one's wing. I suppose that could happen with nearly any run and I hope as my chicks get older and more savvy about the outdoors, that won't happen again.

Good luck.

 

[speckledhen]

As long as you wrap it with hardware wire and make sure nothing can dig under it or come over the top to get in, like Wolfpacker says, it will work.

 

[tiffanyh]

Thats what I have for my two coops and I did exactly what everyone suggested...weasels did get through once so I put my girls away at night. They went right through the chain link holes...so it is not completely predator proof.

 

[Wolfpacker]

I have a coop inside and lock them up at night also. My attack took place in the middle of the afternoon. I think they were taking a dust bath under their coop and something crept up on them and reached through. I imagine a rat could get through the chain link as well, but

we don't have any around here that I have seen.

 

[Agilityscots]

Would weasels be an issue during the day? I thought they were mostly night predators, but what do I know. I know we have raccoons and I want to make the run as safe as possible, so thanks for the tips on how to do that!

My girls will definitely be locked in at night in their safe little coop. No all-nighters for my babes.

Amy

 

[speckledhen]

I really don't know if they're nocturnal only. I do know that most weasels can get through 1" chickenwire so hardware cloth is the only way to go on the chainlink, in my opinion. It's more expensive, but works well to keep out most anything.

 

[Agilityscots]

But weasels are nimble and can squeeze through just about anything, right? If I put hardware cloth on the lower edge (say however tall a roll of hardware cloth is...3 or 4'), won't they just scurry up the side and crawl through the chain link higher up?

Amy

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, Amy, I think they can climb like that. When I said wrap it, I really meant most of the way up the top. The problem is that it will cost quite a bit to wrap that entire run, especially after you pay for the kennel itself. I did look it up and weasels are mostly nocturnal, someone even says 99% nocturnal, so maybe you could get away with only wrapping the lower parts.