What if you have a few chicks that are are ready to go outside and you haven't had time to build that chicken mansion you've been designing? If you have an old plastic dog crate you are in luck. Get some welded wire, a wire cutter and a pair of pliers and create a quick and dirty version of the fancy igloo type chicken coop. I did this one in 45 minutes. The door is on the end away from the dog crate. Make the door large enough so the sides can fold around the pen for a little extra security and make sure the cage part if high enough for the dog crate to open and close.Turn the dog crate upside down so rain won't get in and if it's still cool out duct-tape the side vents in the dog crate to let in less ventilation. Wire the cage part to the dog crate so predators can't sneek in. Voila, cheap, cheep temporary housing
" hinge"
"latch"
With four 8 week old chicks nestled in the corner and a black sex-link hen supervising
