dog kennel for run

[lucylou]

Thinking of using a used dog kennel for our chicken run. We would attach it to the side of the chicken coop and cut a hole for the chicken to enter from the coop. Any thoughts on size of run...we would like to have 6 hens. Also, how tall should the run be?

 

[PuppyBantamCochin]

A 10x10 dog kennel should be fine for six hens, although they will probably rip up all the grass in it. The height for most large dog kennels is 6ft. Since you'll probably need to enter the run, getting a 4ft high kennel won't be fun to get into (since you might want to put wire on the top to keep predators out).

 

[carrlr]

I saw a nicely done one that was 6' X 8' and was 6' high. This one had wire on top and they used the existing door for people to enter the run. Something like that would be fine for 6 hens.

 

[TaLani]

Below is how we used a vacant shed of ours and turned it into what I call the "Double Coop". Using the dog kennels was a wonderfully easy way to fashion a run. We did attach chickenwire to the bottom portion of the runs so that the chickens wouldn't be able to stick their heads through and a dog or whatever be able to snatch their head.

We used a saws-all (sp?) to cut a hole in the kennel for the pop door area. Inside the coop, to make a wall to divide the two sides we used hardware cloth from hip height to ceiling for 1/2 of the separating wall and from hip height to the floor we used plywood. We then framed out where we put a (screen) door so that we could enter the second part of the double coop. Doing the dividing wall this way enables cross ventilation and allows me to look onto the other side to see if I need to refill waterers or feeders and to see if I need to collect eggs. Hope this pic gives you an idea of what you can do with a dog kennel.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Works great. I have a 10x10 that is divided into 2 smaller runs. 1 for the biddies. As everybody grows up I open the gates into the even bigger pen that is 20x10. I've not had anything but a couple of snakes and mice get in. Most of those don't last long when the girls spot them.

 

[70monte]

I used two 10x10x6 dog kennels for the run and placed the coop inside of it. Its plenty of room for my six chickens. It didn't take long for them to eat all of the grass in there.

Wayne