Ideas for a temporary grow out coop

[redfordchick]

We bought plans for a nice big coop. Realistically, it is not going to be completed until the summer. I have a 4x16 dog kennel off the back of my garage and it has a large garage door access. Is there a simple way I could keep the chicks safe while we build the big coop? My dogs dont use the kennel, they only did until they learned their boundaries for our unfenced yard. I can cover the run, its 6 feet high. Maybe can put a little sort of shelter/coop in the garage, and let them in/out, but dont want to spend alot of money. This would be for a min of 8 chickens, max of 12 I think.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

We bought one of those blue plastic barrels for $5, cut holes and put a couple poles through it, some holes in back to vent, opened one end and put hay or shavings in the bottom. We pot this out for a shelter in our grow out pen. It is not very pretty, but it was cheep and easy and since they huddle as babies anyway, they didn't mind being crowded. We were also able to move it into the adult coop when it was time.

There are lots of options, just one suggestion.

 

[redfordchick]

Cheap and easy is what I'm going for, but I need it to be able to be closed up and secured, cant let them roam around the garage if we keep them inside and since the kennel is chain link it's not going to stop any predators if they are left out there.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

When are you thinking of getting your chicks? I brood for 3 to 4 weeks inside then put them in grow out coop outside. We are still getting frosts and some dips of 25F in mid to late April here and that's the earliest I've put them outside.

At 3-4 weeks they may still fit through chain link. What I used for housing was a plastic kids playhouse and put hard wire on openings, had a door that could be secured closed, used playwood for base so digging predators can't get in and put a wood roosting bar in. Easy and cheap. To keep hawks out all you need is plastic garden fencing bungie corded to top of kennel or something of that nature.

If you have some scrap pieces of plywood or find things to re-purpose at home or on criagslist/spring yard sales you'll find it's not hard to make a grow out coop. It just needs ventilation, to be predator proof, roosting bar and hold a few inches of pine shavings to make cleaning easy.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

You can make a screen or make a flap on the end that is the opening and you can put hinges on it or hooks, or zip ties to be able to close it. I'll try to get a pic of ours later when I go check on our birds. We are in the middle of a winter storm so I am checking for frozen water all day.

 

[redfordchick]

Yes the chicks will be in a brooder, getting them this week and they will be about 2 weeks old. Hmmm... We just moved and don't have any scrap building materials, I tried to get some cheap plywood off CL and they would sell to us because we didn't want a lot of it. I'll keep looking though.

 

[redfordchick]

Thanks, I'd love to see

 

[Puddin Fluff]

The flap with the snow on it is held on with zip ties and can be raised to close the barrel. Another ziptie loops over the white lid you see at the top to secure it. It would keep chickens in, not sure it would keep predators out.

You can see the holes on the side where the poles poke through. We put the carpet on top for traction, they like to get on top of the barrel.

You can see it is strapped on top of two saw horses. We most recently used this as a "bachelor pad" for roos who were going to be rehomed. I need to clean it out, it is currently not being used.

Looking in the front door.

When we had the chicks that were growing out, we had it on the ground wedged between two cinder block so that it would not roll.

Hope this gives you an idea.

 

[redfordchick]

The flap with the snow on it is held on with zip ties and can be raised to close the barrel. Another ziptie loops over the white lid you see at the top to secure it. It would keep chickens in, not sure it would keep predators out. You can see the holes on the side where the poles poke through. We put the carpet on top for traction, they like to get on top of the barrel. You can see it is strapped on top of two saw horses. We most recently used this as a "bachelor pad" for roos who were going to be rehomed. I need to clean it out, it is currently not being used. Looking in the front door. When we had the chicks that were growing out, we had it on the ground wedged between two cinder block so that it would not roll. Hope this gives you an idea.

it does, thanks! Looks like there's plenty of room for the Chickie's

 

[RJSorensen]

I would like to chime in here with a big thank you for the wonderful blue barrel photographs and description. Most ingenious use of a somewhat common item. One never what new things and or amazing inventions fellow BYC'ers have come up with. Someone round your place is very talented…

Best to you and your birds,

RJ