help, wrong coop?

[MakelaNJoe]

Im wondering if my coop set up is all wrong for my chicks? It is 5ftX5ft 3 sides(left front and back) are all wood except for top 6 inches which is chicken wire then the entire front is chicken wire with a foot of lattice at the bottom (when the chicks went to the coop they were so little and kept escaping not sure what my dogs would do i put the lattice) i have a home built nesting box with 3 divided nesting boxes this lays on the floor in the back of the coop also have a roost about 3ft high all 5ft across (coop is 5ft tall as well) the rest would be the "run" this being said my chicks will be let to roam the yard once they are alittle bigger now that i know my dogs act as momma hens lol! Is this setup ok? Or is there a better setup i could try?

 

[Folly's place]

I stopped reading after you mentioned chicken wire! Change it all out for hardware cloth, very well secured, before you loose birds. Mary

 

[MakelaNJoe]

I understand your concern but the chicks are much bigger now can no longer get out and are not at all at risk to predators as the dogs keep anything and everything out of the yard and the dogs have now learned to protect the chicks as if they were pups! Is the chciken wire still a concern? And why?

 

[MakelaNJoe]

Is my "wire" the only thing of concern or is there other things i should look at fixing? I dont want to replace one thing if several need to be fixed. Thanks in advance!

 

[SkyWorld]

One happy raccoon when you least expect it.

Put up a picture and pros. can help you better.

 

[TheLazyBFarm]

I stopped reading after you mentioned chicken wire! Change it all out for hardware cloth, very well secured, before you loose birds. Mary

When I started reading about how to design and build a chicken coop, that's the first thing I learned: "chicken wire" isn't! It's useful for keeping raptors out but that's about it.