Would a modified dog house work for chicken coop?

[Robin'sBrood]

Yes, it will work! It doesn't have to be big enough for a nest box either. I have a large wood dog house for my chickens to sleep in and a separate small plastic dog house that they use as a nest box. Since you have 6 girls you might need to give them at least 2 nest boxes. Hope this helps.

 

[Pug Momma]

I get my eggs right now, until mine start laying, from a guy in Enumclaw who has basically modified every second hand thing he can find to accommodate his animals (think railcar, lean-to's, etc). He has a dog house that he uses - up on 4x4 legs with wire mesh surrounding it - and a little ladder going down to the grass. It is a wood dog house - 4 feet x 4 feet and he just popped out a hole and covered it with mesh for ventilation at the top, and put two nesting boxes in there. Plus one roost. There appear to be 4 hens using it. I am the geek that goes and walks around his pasture with him, oogling his inventions...
I have done almost my entire shed conversion out of "found" objects and the only thing I have had to buy was mesh and paint. Lot's of mesh. And not cheap either, but so neccesary.
Craiglist, craigslist, Craigslist....Let me sing the praises of Craigslist.

 

[Tala]

I'm building one right now. I plan to house 4 or 5 chickens in it. I got the biggest dog house I could find. I feel that it is way too small for them to do anything except roost/sleep, but that's all I want them to do in there.
There is very rarely bad enough winter in Arkansas for me to have to keep them indoors - if they had to stay in there for extended periods of time they would be crowded.

I like Robin's idea of having a separate nesting box - think I'm gonna try that!!

 

[OCchickens]

Quote:
Chris - can you post any detail on how you modified your igloo? What did you do about a door?

 

[CityChook]

from MN.

Make sure you are taking advice from people who live in cold climates such as your own. I think if you want to use a large dog house, it better be a BIG dog house. And I'd make sure to cover the run so that even in snowy weather they can go outside. The earlier post about adding an exterior nest box is a good suggestion, reserving your floor space inside. Even still, you could have difficulty over the winter.

Before we built our coop, I scanned craigslist almost HOURLY and found lots of options that we could have gone with. Even with hiring a company to transport a structure to my backyard, it would have been pretty affordable. Get creative.

I think that sometimes we make life more difficult trying to modify items instead of choosing what suits our needs best and then just building them. Believe me, I am a full on city girl, with ZERO construction experience and a paid-for manicure, and we built our entire coop from photographs that we found on this site. If we can do it, anyone can do it.

Maybe I'm jaded - I live where it's REALLY cold and after surviving last winter, which was a doozy, I don't think I can, in good conscience, suggest a dog house for you.

 

[silkeysandra]

yes. here are some links to some photos of my bare-bones chicken outfit. I just have three hens. The doghouse is primarily used for bad weather that comes up during the day while they are in their pen--or their sleeping quarters when we are on vacation.
Otherwise, they sleep in the Chickey house at night where they go by themselves, then I let them out and into the chickey pen (with seed sprinkled on the ground) for the day. Then in the afternoon--or after work--I let them out to play in the backyard. When the sun goes down, they go into their houses in the chickey house (our storeroom) and they get new food and water at that time. I clean their houses after they are let out to play in the yard. That way I can watch them and they get clean houses to come home to.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17293_doghouse.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17293_chickeypen.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17293_chickeyhouse.jpg

 

[Frenchkissed]

Help!!!
I have a wooden dog house that came with a pet smart heater. Can I use the heater in the winter for my chickens?

Thanks

 

[21hens-incharge]

Probably best to start a new thread since this one is super old.

Click this link then type a title in the block that is toward the top.
I think you'll figure the rest out since I see you have created threads before.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance.9/

 

[Frenchkissed]

Ok thanks