Old dog house??

[ebjeffers]

New here so any help appreciated. Want to use a old dog house so I don't have to really construct a coop. No chicks yet waiting for early spring. Dog house is about 3'x 4' and about 4' tall. Want to keep 3-4 RIR or Leg Horns for eggs and figured nice project for family. Don't want to spend alot of money to build so figured dog house would work. Any one in the Greensboro, NC?

 

[jershell99]

The standard is 4sq.ft. per bird, so 3 birds should do well. Make sure there is adequate ventilation, and easy access to the coop to clean, and plenyty of roost space. I am not sure about the leghorns, but my RIRs are kind of flighty and are very dominant, so make sure you do your research. I have some ISA Browns also, and they are more calm and easy going.

I use old dog houses to keep my roosters in. I put in some windows, vents, and a roost and they are happy. Well mostly, they don't like being seperated from the girls!!!

 

[joletabey]

I have a doghouse I use for whatever I need to at the moment- a halfway house for a few chicks or when someone needs to be isolated. The biggest thing is ventilation, and your access for cleaning it. If you have one where the roof is hinged and you can open it that way, it is easy to clean. Otherwise, raise it off the ground so you don't have to be on your hands and knees to clean.

 

[sharol]

So I'm not the only one recycling ;-).

I bought a sturdy (read heavy as lead) doghouse from a garage sale last week.

I'm trying to plan a way to make it an extra coop in case my girls are too crowded over the winter (I have 7 7 wk olds, and the floor space of my coop is inadequate for 7 -- 5 maybe). the doghouse is only about 3x3 so I'm thinking 1 or two could live in it if they have a decent run space. I'm planning vents at the roof line (the roof is slanted back from the door and hinged at the back edge). and a nice roost along one side. I think I can create a door on the back for cleaning it out. It is raised a couple of inches off of the ground, but I'm also trying to figure a way to put it on legs to raise it another foot or two.

My husband thinks I'm crazy, but it is really well built even though it looks tacky right now. It will be a good fall project for me. Now if I can just find some cheap wire panels I can adapt for a winter run. Chicken math at work here. The plan was to give two of the hens to a neighbor who has a nice flock of free ranging chickens once they were POL and I was sure they were all pullets. Right. Now I'm attached. I don't know what I'll do if 2 turn out to be roos. Get more hens?

 

[cfdf]

Here's an idea you might can use for your dog house. You could convert it into a chicken tractor. I bought this one for $200 but for someone who has the ability and time to make one, a dog house could be converted. There are a few changes I would make though....use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire...if possible to hinge the roof it would make cleaning easier....I like the nesting boxes that open in the back for egg collection but you could also just add the nesting boxes on the outside with a hinged lid for easy removal. I don't have pictures of the door side of the run but could get some if you would like to see it. Another down side is getting in and out of the tractor. I only have 2 batam roos in mine right now so not alot of cleaning or egg collecting to do. My chickens are locked in the big house at night due to the chicken wire. The front of the dog house style coop is completely open. I don't have a way to lock them in there at night so if you could figure out how to do that with yours it would be a plus. You don't say where you live....does it get really cold there in the winter....really hot in the summer? That will make a difference on ventilation, windows etc. Of course another thing you could do with your dog house is put it up on legs and build your run around that. Build your fence so that it is tall enough for you to walk into. That is a definite plus for saving the back when cleaning and collecting eggs. There's alot you can do with your dog house. I know you will have alot of fun here on BYC reading all the different ways you can convert/build your coop/run. Good luck and keep us all posted on what you do. Post lots of pictures. We like pictures!!!

Oh! One more thing.....get better wheels...these are cheapo!

 

[ebjeffers]

Thanks for the ideas. I don't want to spend alot on building a coop and figured most look like dog houses so........... I wanted to put a single nesting box on the back about half way up and elevate the dog house about 1-1.5ft of the ground. Door for the opening and larger door on side for cleaning. How high does the roost pole and nesting box need to be? We just want 3-4 birds for brown or white eggs. The dog houses I am lookin at are rather large.

 

[ZombieChickens]

We got an insulated doghouse for free from Craigslist, tore off the roof, put on a new one with a hinge for collecting eggs. The nesting boxes are cat litter boxes with half of the lids cut off. Almost NO building, AND practiacally free. My chickies are happy and so am I!

 

[ebjeffers]

Quote:
What type chickens do you have and how many??

 

[ZombieChickens]

We have 5 RIRs and one Belgian banty.

 

[gramakoko]

MINE IS AN OLD DOG HOUSE FROM CRAIGS LIST