# Coop Collapse (no one hurt)



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I have a few silkies and Polish in a 16 x 16 pen mostly covered with a tarp. Then underneath was like a rabbit hutch. 2 of my silkies decide to be broody right in front of the hutch. I think these plastic tarps get beat up from the sun. It's rained for 3 days. My silkies should not be wet but they are. They are sitting right under a drip. So I go to move the hutch back so I can move them back, and the Whole Hutch collapsed! Those on-line coops and hutches are not sturdy. Now I know. So my silkies are dry now and they have 2 rubbermade tubs on their sides with a nice nest in each one. And I also decided to put lime down too. So now they're clean and dry. It's a good thing I didn't wash my hair this morning because it wouldbe a frizzy mop by now. I don't give them a coop because you know silkies. They will sit on a nest for months and they get too hot. So I always make sure they have a nest in something that's open in the front. Pics to follow.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

It's always something.Glad to hear no injuries except for the hutch.I use dog houses for my grow out pen.One is smaller and insulated so they go in that one 1st.The other is twice as big and not insulated and they go in that one when fully feathered and have doubled their size.I can cover the door when it's chilly or leave it open when it's warm.I've used both for years, very durable and water proof plus,they are plastic and easy to clean and handle.My neighbor kept her silkies in an open-faced lean-to and I felt sorry for those little chickens,esp.in the winter months.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Dog houses work great. In my grow out pen, if it was cold, I hung a heat lamp just outside the door pointing inward. But I don't have a problem with cold here. It's heat. So most of them are in pens. Except for 5 silkie roos. They are in a small coop at night with the door covered because they all crow.


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