To keep chickens in a dog crate...

[IShitGlitter]

I have finally convinced DH for us to have a few chickens in our garden. I am going to build a chicken run about 7m by 2m have a sheltered area and a dust bath with some logs and branches to play with. It's on a concrete base so am going to line with wood chippings and maybe a few planters of grass and flowers etc ....for nest boxes am going to use milk crates lined with straw and for the "house" with in the run. I have got a large dog crate with trayed bottom and with a weatherproof cover and pop in some perches line with straw or wood shavings? Would something like this be suitable rather than an expensive "readymade coop" this is for 3 chickens.

No idea - but there is a chicken keepers section under pets.

Your nest boxes ought to be within the hen house , and the house needs to be warm enough in winter/cool in summer. It also needs to be pest proof, and easily cleaned/sprayed for mites. A crate isn't going to cut it

It's a big enough crate to pop a nest box in one side and a perch the other the bottom tray is plastic which should be easy to clean when changing bedding ect? The warmth element is a concern to me we do have an outhouse style shed with electric they could be moved in there maybe if it's cold. I want to avoid buying an expensive coop if possible.

Can you buy a second hand coop on Facebook ?

If its a mesh cage type, it wont be enough on its own. Can you bring it indoors?
There are plastic coops and home made wooden coops, look online for how to build one and check its large enough and well insulated enough. It also needs to be rat, cat and ferret proof.
I'm not a fan of second hand coops, they can be difficult to sterilise and transfer pests and diseases.

Even if it was big enough and warm enough, cam you keep rats, mice and fox out? Rats particularly are drawn to chickens (free food, warmth etc) and will attack chickens. And a fox, even if they can't break into the crate, will terrorise the chickens

No, you cannot use a dog crate. It's not fit for the job. The size isnt the only consideration.

I think it needs to be enclosed because it won't be warm enough in winter otherwise and also vermin etc would be able to get in.

Perches - you need enough room for all chickens to roost at the same time. The should be far enough apart chickens can get off without injury. I suspect unless this a massive dog crate this is not possible.
Nest boxes - should be quiet, draught- free and enclosed ideally off the main chicken house. Milk crates don't satisfy this criteria.
Stressed chickens with unsuitable environment will not lay well - so not getting the housing right is a false economy. One happy chicken with give you at least 260 eggs a year, 3 hens that's 65 dozen a year at £2.20 a dozen saving you £142 a year. Your hens are going to lay well for at least 3 years so it is worth spending a decent amount of money on a good house for them.

No - like others have said, won't keep rats out

We have a large dog kennel inside a run as one of two shelters for our ducks. I don't think a crate would be suitable as it won't offer enough shelter or protection from predators.

Would it be better to maybe use the crate as a starting point and maybe build sides and top onto it with wooden boards I don't think a Fox would be able to get inside a locked metal cage inside a locked enclosed run? If it isn't suitable I will look at getting a readymade type.

Hmm I was rereading the first post, and I also don't think they will be super happy if they don't have any non-concrete space really. They like to dig, and make dust baths and if it's on a concrete base you'd have to constantly clean out the entire pen as the chippings would just fill up with droppings?

I think you won't want to line the actual coop with straw/wood shavings as it would be heaven for Red Mites which a parasites and can make hens unhealthy if they become too prevalent.

No, it isn't suitable because they don't give the birds a mental rest from being surrounded by predators in the same way that solid walls allow them to rest.
Also if a fox does approach and they panic, they will flap about and damage their combs on the roof.

I've used them as hospital crates in the house but they've been temporary and I kept them half covered with canvas.

No it needs to be properly enclosed. Rats and voles and things will easily squeeze through a crate.

Please be absolutely certain you can give the time and commitment to hens before you go ahead with it. We have just come to the end of our time having hens as our remaining hen has passed away, and we won't be getting more sadly. It was so much harder than we thought.

I didn't realise that chickens meant attracting rats, nor that if you don't clean up after them diligently every day they attract flies - in fact as chickens pretty much eat and shit constantly there will always be a lot of flies.

This meant that we didn't really use our garden ourselves as much - not that pleasant having your garden constantly smell of poo and full of flies. You can clean up chicken poo every day and still there will be flies.

They will also destroy your lawn and any plants or grass they have access to, so unless you're penning them in your garden will become the barren surface of the moon in summer, and a disgusting muddy bog in winter.

You also need to read up on the various illnesses chickens can get and be very observant of their behaviour and living conditions- one year we spent the summer constantly combating red mite which is a bastard to get rid of.

Hens are lovely and sweet, I loved them and really enjoyed keeping them, but they can be fucking hard work, it's awful when they get sick, sometimes they fight and attack each other and you have to intervene, and they'll trash your garden.

Oh, and in summer they'll wake you up at 4.30 am when the sun starts to rise earlier because they think sunrise = loud clucking and squawking to greet the day!

If you can't afford to buy a proper coop with enough room to let all of them roost and nest together and don't really have any idea why this would be important, then should you really be keeping hens at all?

If you are going to build a coop. You may as well build a house within it.

I can see the advantage, especially of being able to slide the tray out daily and wash it down thoroughly but it would need enclosing. Some 12mm exterior quality ply wood would do the job. Chickens don't like wind, ours are very very free range but will go home at lunchtime if its very windy and not come out until the following morning.
Ours are in a hen house that is raised off the ground, with a ramp up and they really like that. So if you could raise it up about a foot.
I find them fairly easy to keep, dust them occasionally for mites etc.
Not had an issue with flies, we do get the odd rat. If the run is on concrete that will prevent the rat digging. Keep all feed in metal containers and don't put loads of food out at once for the chickens. Use those hanging feeders. I don't worry about mice and voles.

Dust extracted Bedwell chopped rape straw which has been treated with citronella is best for bedding them on. Really reduces the mite problem.
Don't use straw thats full of mites to start with.

Think it will be a "proper coop" instead will get searching online.

We're the chickens will be are a separate part of the garden our garden is an L shape and were they will be is not in the "main garden" but is next to a nice section of decking which is not being used so would be nice to pop a bistro set up there and watch the hens.But they will be allowed to free range in the garden occasionally.

As for the time I have enough spare time to care for the chickens am a SAHM and the kids can help out when needed.

The concrete will be filled with either wood chipping or sand (I need to research this a bit more) with large low planters with maybe some pre rolled turf on top so they have some soil and grass. Along with plant pots with flowers they can wreck havoc on. I plan on making a dust bath maybe in a tin bath type.

fedupandlookingforchange That was the idea to pull the tray out clean and change the bedding each morning. And put it off the ground maybe on a few cinder blocks and enclose sides and top with wood and make a little ramp to the crate.
But as I've said if this isn't suitable I will buy a coop.

Plastic Coops are excellent for keeping clean and reducing red/super mite issues as you can take them apart and pressure wash regularly.
Our chickens have a run with concrete base then bark chipping about 2cm deep that we throw corn and meal worms in each day so they scratch about. Then we have a plastic coop. We clean out the bark chipping sand pressure wash plastic coop once a month.
We also hang corn cobs and leaves like chard and beetroot tops from the roof of the cage to encourage natural browsing.
All this environmental enrichment give natural behaviour and prevents fighting.
Our eggs have lovely rich yellow yolks and our hens lay for a long time.

If its fully enclosed it sounds fine, you would need to put some roofing felt on the top. I've bought a few chicken houses over the years and none have been that well made and they weren't cheap! Cardboard boxes make good nest boxes as you can throw them out after a while and some chickens will sit all night in a nest box rather than perch. So a nest box needed inside the house.
Turf is a good idea but they will probably need a new roll every couple of weeks! They do enjoy scratting things up, so any planters when the plants have finished are ideal.

I haven’t RTFT.
But no - not suitable.
A rabbit hutch would be better temporarily.