First time: dog pen turned coop

[Lydiaclackum]

My husband and I recently moved into a home on 2 acres with this old dog pen. I want to convert it to a chicken coop and want to minimize my rookie mistakes. Here’s my plan; I welcome any input and constructive criticism.

First I’ll secure the bottom with hardware cloth, and extend an apron two feet and perhaps bury it. I’ll remove the top and add a roof (need help deciding the best way to do that). I’m going to buy a prefab coop and put it together, it’ll go in the pen. I’m at home most days and plan on letting the hens out of the coop and run so they can be free range. The pen is 10x10 feet (minus the space taken up by the coop).

Thoughts?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Whatbare the dimensions?

 

[Lydiaclackum]

Whatbare the dimensions?

The pen is 10’ by 10’. I haven’t decided on a coop yet.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The pen is 10’ by 10’. I haven’t decided on a coop yet.

Personally I recommend the new coop at tsc. I'll grab a picture in a minute. Looks hardier than the older models and I'm getting one in a few months. If you encase the run of the coop in a solid wall like a tarp or wood and take off one of the doors to the coops run, I see no reason why you cannot have 4 or 5 standards as opposed to the 2 or 3 a prefab normally fit

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Here's the coop I'm talking about. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...-AYSnvW1uVOQ6sb3PMNdloBE6-w7FvM8aAtvJEALw_wcB

 

[21hens-incharge]

What part of the world are you located in?

How many birds are you wanting to keep?

Is that a full concrete pad it's on?
That can be very hard on their feet when confined in there.....and predators visiting is bound to happen sooner or later making confining them necessary.

 

[3KillerBs]

I’m going to buy a prefab coop

The vast majority of prefab coops are far too small (some so small that an adult hen cannot stand upright inside them), badly-ventilated, and poorly made. If you have even moderate building skills you will almost certainly be better off building your own coop.

The usual guidelines for space are that for every adult, standard-size hen you need:

4 square feet in the coop,
10 square feet in the run,
1 linear foot of roost,
and 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation -- which is best placed above the hens' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

If you tell us your general location we can give better targeted advice for your specific conditions and climate.

 

[Lydiaclackum]

What part of the world are you located in?

How many birds are you wanting to keep?

Is that a full concrete pad it's on?
That can be very hard on their feet when confined in there.....and predators visiting is bound to happen sooner or later making confining them necessary.

I’m in Georgia, United States. The predators we have around here are hawks, snakes, opossums, raccoons, and owls.
I’m thinking of starting with 4 but my mind can be changed on that.
It’s a concrete pad; I’m thinking I’ll put sand down on the floor for easy cleaning. The idea is that they’ll be outside most of the time in the grass but just be put up at night.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I’m in Georgia, United States. The predators we have around here are hawks, snakes, opossums, raccoons, and owls.
I’m thinking of starting with 4 but my mind can be changed on that.
It’s a concrete pad; I’m thinking I’ll put sand down on the floor for easy cleaning. The idea is that they’ll be outside most of the time in the grass but just be put up at night.

If you use hardware cloth in the bottom walls, you can use shavings for bedding

 

[SegiDream]

I'd build a big coop on the outside with the pop door opening into the fenced area. You could frame the bottom of this with wood and fill it with mulch etc. I think if you did that and secured the wood to the fence you wouldn't have to run a wire skirt? Just hardware cloth along the bottom of the fence. If you secure them into the coop every night you could just put a strong bird netting over the gaps at the top...