Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Hi Y'all,

I find myself rushing to move into my new place, before I'm ready
I have 5 silkie hens & NO coop.
there is space in the garage to build a temporary coop
It has a concrete floor & is close to the house,
BUT there are Rats!
I have been Feeding them the necessary green blocks.
4 so far, but have seen others "frolicking" in the yard

Does Anyone have Fast / Easy coop ideas?
I do have 2 x 4 panels with mesh, but a rat can fit thru
I was thinking of adding 1/2 inch mesh over the existing panels.
ANY HELP is appreciated

I use 4 foot x 8 foot Hoop Houses...

Base made from 2x6 lumber and then staple hardware cloth to the bottom, so nothing can dig under and get into the house.

I then bend 1/2" PVC electrical conduit to form the hoops, then cover with mesh, I use 1x1 inch welded wire. I use plastic zip ties to attach the wire to the conduit.

I use plywood and mesh on the ends and build a door on one end and nest boxes on the other end. I cover half the structure with clear vapour barrier plastic.

I could only find 1 crappy photo from last winter.

interesting....what is the finished size? How many birds live in there? How long did it take to put this together? Thanx for sharing!!!

The finished size is 4 feet by 8 feet, so inside about 30 square feet, and about 4 feet tall. I usually keep about 5 birds in them. Usually takes me less than a day to build.

Be sure to cover the top. All rodents can climb on wire.

Get a couple cats, young ones so they get used to the chickens and close them up in the garage with the rats. I know this won't be popular with some people but I had a rat problem that poison did not help. After the cats came, 6 months later no rats.

DO you have a spare bathroom?? LOL!

Why you movin in KB lol

Bathrooms are awesome for quarantine, chicks, poorly chickens etc. I always thought that's what the spare bathroom was for! It's certainly what ours has been used for.

I admit I have had several ill birds in my basement shower stall lol.