Little Tikes Playhouse coop in the Winter?

[colleen4nier]

We have a prefab coop and chicken math set in, now have 9 birds instead of 6. TS screwed up and gave us two Cornish cross (meat birds) that we decided to thin down and raise as pets. They don't roost. My neighbor had this exact playhouse and gave it to us after I showed her YOUR picture. We live in GA (same kind of climate). I just want to tell you - it is absolutely adorable! The Cornish cross don't do well with ramps or roosts so we are planning to out ours on a tile board. One difference I noticed is our fireplace actually is a small rear door - perfect size for them to waddle out to play. For a run we are going to do a white picket fence enclosed with hardware cloth. I plan to paint it to match our house -taupe with a black door and white shutters. There are significant gaps around the door ways and windows. It is unclear how you closed them in. Also in your photos I can't tell how you addressed the ventilation holes. Did you put hardware cloth up there? Our sink is attached. I'd like to get that out of there and put in a window box like you did. Any suggestions on how to do that?

 

[aart]

Cute, but usually way too small.....and hard to attach things(roosts, nests, ventilation, predator proof mesh, etc) to the plastic.

 

[123RedBeard]

4.58' x 3.58' x 3.5'

That's just over 12 square feet ... I hope your eight birds are tiny ... Like Robins!

 

[bluema]

lol, they stay in the coop only at night, or when they lay eggs. Rest of the time they're out in their run, and they're doing very well even in their current smaller coop and they're standard/large birds.
I'm not worried about the size. Even if I were to build a coop from scratch, it would not have been bigger than 4x4' at the outer dimension. I don't need anything bigger than that, and even if I wanted to go bigger, material cost would've been too high to consider at even slightly larger dimension due to available lumber/panel sizing.

 

[bluema]

Hi Mutt Farm!

That's great to hear that your playhouse served well until you went with larger flock.
I'm maxed out with 8 birds. I really don't want more because they're my pet and I can't even keep up with their egg production since my husband and I don't eat too many eggs. My neighbors enjoy our free organic eggs more than we do. I know that chickens are pretty hardy, but I still want them as comfortable as possible. I noticed mine would all hang out in the coop on very cold/windy days (only few days here in TN), so I even added a panel heater to their current coop which they love. I spy on them with my security cameras

I've looked around and for $400-$600 there aren't too many options, and I don't like most of the designs where chickens have to walk through roost area to reach nest boxes with their poopy feet.
I wanted to consider plastic coop this time around because I noticed wet wood becomes moldy that's hazardous, and it can rain nonstop during spring here in TN.

I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, but were the plastic walls ok to work with when you added your roosts?

 

[aart]

lol, they stay in the coop only at night, or when they lay eggs. Rest of the time they're out in their run, and they're doing very well even in their current smaller coop and they're standard/large birds.
I'm not worried about the size. Even if I were to build a coop from scratch, it would not have been bigger than 4x4' at the outer dimension. I don't need anything bigger than that, and even if I wanted to go bigger, material cost would've been too high to consider at even slightly larger dimension due to available lumber/panel sizing.

What is your climate?
Adding your location can help folks give better answers/suggestions.

Do you get heavy snow accumulation.....lots if rain?

 

[bluema]

I'm in TN. More specifically Eastern TN right at the foothills of the Smokies, zone 6B. Snows infrequently and accumulates just a few times a year. Definitely LOTS of rain.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Hi Mutt Farm!

That's great to hear that your playhouse served well until you went with larger flock.
I'm maxed out with 8 birds. I really don't want more because they're my pet and I can't even keep up with their egg production since my husband and I don't eat too many eggs. My neighbors enjoy our free organic eggs more than we do. I know that chickens are pretty hardy, but I still want them as comfortable as possible. I noticed mine would all hang out in the coop on very cold/windy days (only few days here in TN), so I even added a panel heater to their current coop which they love. I spy on them with my security cameras

I've looked around and for $400-$600 there aren't too many options, and I don't like most of the designs where chickens have to walk through roost area to reach nest boxes with their poopy feet.
I wanted to consider plastic coop this time around because I noticed wet wood becomes moldy that's hazardous, and it can rain nonstop during spring here in TN.

I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, but were the plastic walls ok to work with when you added your roosts?

I planned to build mine on a platform as a raised coop. There are some really cute designs online. Light weight, zero maintenance, easy to disinfect. That would give your girls an additional 12+ sq ft underneath the coop to stay shady and dry. And you don't have to crawl in to get eggs. You could hang the boxes on the outside with a hinged lid too. Rain? Oh, now I remember, is that the wet stuff that fell from the sky here a few years ago?

I agree with the wood in the TN rain being a maintenance consideration. The prefab in your budget are by most accounts worthless and flimsy at best. For the roosts, I used a shovel handle, and the -u- shaped thingies they use to hold pipes to walls and self tapping screws with a drop of rubber cement. The plastic walls were challenging. I'd build a free standing atop the nest boxes with a poop board if I need to use it again (chicken math, broody house) You'll be a bit tight with 8, but if they are getting along now and you're going bigger. Waiting for updates!

ETA: I'd really thing hard about adding heat. Folks rarely do that even in below zero climates. There are some great threads about it

 

[aart]

I'm in TN. More specifically Eastern TN right at the foothills of the Smokies, zone 6B. Snows infrequently and accumulates just a few times a year. Definitely LOTS of rain.

Well, hopefully they have shelter from the rainy days somewhere other than the tiny coop.......
......and you never have a serious predator event where they need secure shelter for a few weeks.

 

[aart]

My run is covered from rain and completely enclosed in 1/4" hardwire cloth. I have coyotes, raccoons, etc., and my hens have been safe for over 2 yrs now, and my chickens stay completely dry even through hard rain like today. If kids can climb on top of the poly cottage as I've read in reviews, I'm thinking the walls are probably very solid for predator concerns as long as I hardware cloth the openings..

That's good!