would this work for a few chickens?

It would be fine. My chickens (four) and ducks (five) have been living in a large dog kennel for almost a year now and have done so before. My kennel is 10 ft. high, but the actual chicken pen is only six ft. high. I've never had anything fly over the fence!

Chickens aren't real particular about their coop. Mine have survived our very snowy (for MS anyway) cold winter living in the box our new TV came in! It has roosts which are just sticks shoved through and I rain proofed it with a large plastic tablecloth (the kind with fabric backing) I got at Wal Mart on clearance for $1. My ducks' house used to be a garbage can (the big municipal kind). When the lid broke off the county brought us a new one and I put the lidless one on it's side in the duck pen. They love it.

__________________
I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

from the picture it looks like trees close by~got to make it predator proof so possums and coons don't climb the trees and get inside the coop...really should have a wire top of chicken wire to keep predators out unless you can lock chickens in a bulding at night..

Well, when we moved it to our house 12 years ago, we thought the dog house and run was a great idea. But the dogs didn't. Now, we have used the dog run/house as a brooder (chicks and ducks), but its is now the chicken coop. Our chain link fence at 6', will not keep them in. But I do free range and as for my dogs, they could care less. Dogs stay in the house, couch potatoes.

Well, when we moved it to our house 12 years ago, we thought the dog house and run was a great idea. But the dogs didn't. Now, we have used the dog run/house as a brooder (chicks and ducks), but its now the chicken coop. Our chain link fence at 6', will not keep them in. But I do free range and as for my dogs, they could care less. Dogs stay in the house, couch potatoes.

I did something similar when I only had about 10 chickens. I had a large homemade dog house that I used for thier coop and it was the last run where my dogs were- so the dogs were right next to them. The house sat on the outside of the fence with an opening for the door cut in the fence. The "coop" was 8 ft wide by 4 ft deep by oh 3 ft tall. It had a door, but after they learned to in themselves at night I did not close it. We did not have roosts...the coop was bedded with straw deeply and a few wooden boxes with shavings in them was thier nest boxes- which they used. Thier feeder and waterer were outside. I did not cover the run and never had a predator issue. If there was a hawk or anything else- the dogs would bark at it and frighten it off. A few birds would fly out and range and one silkie roo would come up to the house and visit- and not return to the coop till the next morning- he slept in the kennel building snuggled with his fav dog at night. The only thing is I had a couple dogs with high prey drive and I did not think about that when I had to switch dogs around one day. The dog that the silkie slept with went in to the same run as usual that evening...only it was one of the high prey drive dogs.
I did not get any predators at all until I built an actual coop and it was on the opposite side of the property from the dogs.

__________________
Willowynd Collies
"A breeder is at once an artist and a scientist. It takes an artist to envision and to recognize excellence, and a scientist to build what the artist's eye desires."

noticed baby birdies at Tractor Supply today, ducks were just toooooo cute..want some but hubby doesn't (birds..not necessarily ducks or chicks..just birds)..I may have to wait another year as I have no prep done for any right now and it is darned cold here

__________________
Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

Mamita, your pen is fine and dandy. We don't do it for the money either. Go get some chicks! Better yet, come get a cockerel or two from me. They're pretty and nice boys.

Our set up really isn't much different from yours. Our chickens come inside to a horse stall with chicken wire. They use a heated dog bowl as a waterer. I put hay on the ground because we have hay. I like wood chips better as they do a better job of absorbing the smells but you've gotta pay for them.) That's all there is to my coop.

Outside.... I put water in the bottom of one of those rubbermaid type shoe box bottoms and let them have fun. Apparently last year one of ours went visiting and laid on neighbor's eggs for a while.... she wasn't even six months old.

__________________
Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

Go ahead and get some chickens! They are not complicated at all! I went almost 30 years without any chickens and haven't had a bit of trouble caring for them. Chickens are EASY. I love my hens and the rooster I have now (first rooster was mean as the devil).

__________________
I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

go for it. More than likely the dog will keep predators away from them. Shepherds love babies. Long time ago, our mother goose died, yeah, like aunt Rhodie's, and our German shepherd took over mothering the goslings. Did not like them going in the water though.

I say do it, if it's not illegal. We all would be healthier if we had access to free range or at least grass fed chicken eggs. The dog will keep most predators away. With a concrete floor you won't have anything digging in, with 6 foot sides you can easily put netting over the top to keep the birds in and hawks out. Just as long as the neighboring dog isn't trying to get to the chickens you will be fine.

It's a beautiful spot for a chicken coop.

Internet forum writing means we only 'see' about 20% of what a person is trying to say - the emotion and 'flavor' and 'meaning' gets lost in black & white type. So don't take anything too badly.

When you said: "and I wonder if I couldn't change the dog house (on her side) for a little chicken coop?"

On a quick read I took that to mean you wanted to remodel the doghouse into a chicken coop. I guess that isn't how you meant it, nothing wrong with what you said or in how I read it, we all just kinda missed a bit in translation.

I'm no chicken expert, but if your dog doesn't 'worry' the chicks or adults, I think you have a good start there to a nice little chicken run. If you train them from young on, it's possible to keep chickens in an electric pen only a foot high with no cover - very few try to cross the wire even when old enough to glide over it. (Neighbor did this for several years so no point saying it would never work....) But the height of the fence, and if you need it covered over the top, depends on local conditions to you. So while the advice here is good, you can just jump in & try it & see. One learns what works and what doesn't. 'Here' and 'there' can be very different.

Without over-annalizing it, looks like you have a good plan there - if your dog will agree.

--->Paul

Well it's going to be different for different people in different places..

Build a little coop and try it.. It's the only way you'll know how well it'll work. And it may be just fine.

Lots of people have chickens with less.

:smiley-laughing013::smiley-laughing013::smiley-laughing013: