We have one of those prefab coops that has a run space that is too small for our four hens. The maker says it's big enough for eight, though it's only about six feet long. Huh?
Anyway, we currently use a dog pen with a canopy cover that we move around to give the girls play time in the yard, but I'm thinking about getting a walk-in chicken kennel for daytime use, separate from this coop, which they can convert to a dirt area. This type of kennel "kit" comes with chicken wire, as you can see in the picture below, so not chain link or hardware cloth. I know this is not suitable for nighttime use, since we have raccoons as well as flying predators like hawks and falcons around here (suburb city north of Seattle). The one I'm looking at (on amazon) is the one below, it's 10' x 6' x 6', so 15 sq ft / hen for our four.
There are sturdier options that I've seen in the forum threads here, but we don't get those predators like raccoons during the day, so I naively expect that it should be okay. The yard has a six foot wooden fence around it, so stray dogs are not a threat.
Does anyone have experience with this type of kennel?
It's a kit, so hopefully not a major project to assemble, but I've never worked with fencing. Is it simpler, and not much harder to assemble, to just buy the components?
Thank you
Anyway, we currently use a dog pen with a canopy cover that we move around to give the girls play time in the yard, but I'm thinking about getting a walk-in chicken kennel for daytime use, separate from this coop, which they can convert to a dirt area. This type of kennel "kit" comes with chicken wire, as you can see in the picture below, so not chain link or hardware cloth. I know this is not suitable for nighttime use, since we have raccoons as well as flying predators like hawks and falcons around here (suburb city north of Seattle). The one I'm looking at (on amazon) is the one below, it's 10' x 6' x 6', so 15 sq ft / hen for our four.
There are sturdier options that I've seen in the forum threads here, but we don't get those predators like raccoons during the day, so I naively expect that it should be okay. The yard has a six foot wooden fence around it, so stray dogs are not a threat.
Does anyone have experience with this type of kennel?
It's a kit, so hopefully not a major project to assemble, but I've never worked with fencing. Is it simpler, and not much harder to assemble, to just buy the components?
Thank you