Modifying a doghouse for quarantine coop?

[twouglyducks]

I would like to add 2-4 pullets to my flock. I have a chain link 10x10 kennel set up as a run but would need to use this as a coop. We have racoons, coyotes and opossums on/around out property.


The main coop is close to the house and has not yet had any predator attempts but with this one being 150' further out, I'd want to be pretty cautious.


My thoughts were to drill two to three inch holes around the top and cover those with hardware cloth. There is a bit of a gap all around even when it's latched shut. Then I would need to make a door of some sort.

Any other ideas? Is this secure enough with HC around bottom of the fencing and an apron or rocks outside to deter diggers?

 

[3KillerBs]

My thoughts were to drill two to three inch holes around the top and cover those with hardware cloth. There is a bit of a gap all around even when it's latched shut. Then I would need to make a door of some sort.

Better to open a strip above the door all across that side and to open triangles at the top of the side walls. You need to be thinking square feet of ventilation, not square inches.

I made awnings from scraps of metal siding to shelter the vents on my outdoor brooder:

 

[perkolator]

If it’s just a temporary quarantine coop you can likely get away with your plan just fine. I’m thinking it might even be fine as is since the doorway is right there. Figure if a bigger animal can be ok in there, a couple chickens in quarantine can too. Looks like a decent setup to me. If it was long term I’d maybe consider protection from above that’s not that pop up tent fabric.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I was going to do something similar to a dog house when I quarantined 2 hens a year ago. I actually ended up using a resin storage bench similarly outfitted with hardware cloth. It worked great, and now I have a set up I can use for future quarantines, mamas with chicks, injured birds. I think that dog house will be waaaay better than my janky storage bench coop!

I think the hardware cloth will go a long way for predator protection. We use an 8 x 10 wire dog kennel we enlarged to 15 x 12 with some welded wire and a tarp-over-welded wire roof. It has hardware cloth all around it and an apron to prevent digging. We have similar predator activity here - plus bobcat, foxes, mountain lions, and bears - and I've not yet had a problem (knock on wood). We get foxes visiting nightly. Every. Single. Night.

I say go for it!