- Nov 4, 2009
- 20
- 0
- 32
Hey all, I have 5 4week old Rhode Island Red female chickens. I have them is a small cage indoors right now. It's time to move them outdoors. I have a 10x10 fenced dog enclosure I want to use for their run. We have this fenced kennel on the cement slab patio in our back yard, right outside or french doors. My wife wants me to make a small chicken coop in the kennel and leave it on the cement .
I would put the kennel on the grass in the yard, but I have a sprinkler system in the yard and don't think I want the sprinklers going on in the morning, spraying water on the kennel and chicken coop.
So my question is, would it work to have the chickens in a small coop in the 10x10 fenced kennel on the cement slab? My wife says leave the bottom of the coop open with wire so the chicken poo falls though.I'm thinking with the bottom open, it will be very cold this winter , even here in central florida. W do get cold spells in the 30's. Even with say a light bulb for heat, I think the floor should be solid. I was thinking the chicken run in the kennel should have something on the floor,wood pellets or sand , but it will be a mess on a patio slab. Would the chickens be ok scratching around on the cement floor? My wife says it will be easy to hose the cement off as we do when we have dogs in it. I'm not sure that will be good for young chickens scratching around on a cement slab.
MY plan was to put the kennel outside our fenced yard, outside of the sprinkler system, make a chicken coop next to it, and fence the whole thing in for protection. I would add a gate in the chain link fence to walk to the chicken coop, and then we could let the chickens in and out of the back yard to roam, then put them back in their coop at night. I would put the fence around the chicken coop about 12" in the ground to prevent digging under and use my fence charger and put a wire around the outside base to prevent fence climbers. We live on 5 acres in the woods and I know when the chickens go outside, we will attack the raccoons, foxes, bobcats, coyotes and everything else. So the perimeter fence will have to be sturdy to keep the predators away from the chicken run or coop.
So can they be on the cement slab for now? That's my question.
I would put the kennel on the grass in the yard, but I have a sprinkler system in the yard and don't think I want the sprinklers going on in the morning, spraying water on the kennel and chicken coop.
So my question is, would it work to have the chickens in a small coop in the 10x10 fenced kennel on the cement slab? My wife says leave the bottom of the coop open with wire so the chicken poo falls though.I'm thinking with the bottom open, it will be very cold this winter , even here in central florida. W do get cold spells in the 30's. Even with say a light bulb for heat, I think the floor should be solid. I was thinking the chicken run in the kennel should have something on the floor,wood pellets or sand , but it will be a mess on a patio slab. Would the chickens be ok scratching around on the cement floor? My wife says it will be easy to hose the cement off as we do when we have dogs in it. I'm not sure that will be good for young chickens scratching around on a cement slab.
MY plan was to put the kennel outside our fenced yard, outside of the sprinkler system, make a chicken coop next to it, and fence the whole thing in for protection. I would add a gate in the chain link fence to walk to the chicken coop, and then we could let the chickens in and out of the back yard to roam, then put them back in their coop at night. I would put the fence around the chicken coop about 12" in the ground to prevent digging under and use my fence charger and put a wire around the outside base to prevent fence climbers. We live on 5 acres in the woods and I know when the chickens go outside, we will attack the raccoons, foxes, bobcats, coyotes and everything else. So the perimeter fence will have to be sturdy to keep the predators away from the chicken run or coop.
So can they be on the cement slab for now? That's my question.