A kids play house coop conversion- any experience?

[ginormous chicken]

Hi everyone!

I want a second coop. The first one my DH built. He has offered to build me a second one, but I want to try something myself. Since my woodworking experience is limited... You all know about those little tikes play houses that kids play in? Well... what if I bought a cheap used one on Craigslist for 60 bucks and added a run that attached to to coop? What do you all think? I live in Nor Cal = No snow. I would have to block one of the windows and like the back door off. It has a front door that closes. Both left and right sides have large windows. I would block one off and attach the run to the other. As for the back wall, I think there is a small opening that needs to be blocked off. Do you think the chickens will be too exposed? Does anyone have experience with this? Or does anyone have any ideas on building a run?


Take a look and let me know what you think:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/barbie play house/vera_gemini2007/barbie_playhouse_cottage.jpg

The sink comes out!


______________________________________________________________
Proud Mama to: 1 Delaware, 3Ameraucanas, 1OE Bantam, 1BC Maran, 1Black Silkie, 1 Service Dog, 2 Pet Dogs, 1 Parrot, A LOT of Lizards, THE SNAKES
and 1 very understanding DH!

 

[dsqard]

If you do a search on here many people have converted these into coops. Many ideas on here about doing just that. Good luck!
BTW if you ever feel like you would want to try your hand at building a coop with wood, get the Coops for Dummies book! I used it to build our coop and I had never built anything bigger than a shelf before and even that was crooked. Very good book!

 

[tinychicky]

i'm currently using one as a coop, but it's in the barn... do you have many predetors around? i you do, a playhouse may not be the best option as it takes quite a bit of effort to predetor proof them... good luck anyway!

 

[wolfandfinch]

Quote:
Is it possible to not have any predators? I live in the city and still have raccoons, coyotes and eagles -at minimum

could you not build a big run and have the coop inside it?

 

[dianaross77]

I recently purchased 2 playhouses from cl for this purpose. One for $30 and one for $15. Here a couple of links to people's pages that have done them too.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=62184

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=37990

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=38672-our-repurposed-coop

 

[gryeyes]

I have several "coops" in my back yard, and one of them is a Little Tikes Barbie playhouse.

I strongly recommend you raise it off the ground so you can clean it out more easily. Plus it gives space underneath for the chickens to hang out in the shade when necessary, and a place to put a waterer or feeder or both.

I would love to get a few more of them and make a little playhouse coop village!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
I concur with gry unless you are a skinny minny that is only 3 ft tall, you need to put the house on a platform. It's sooooooooooooooo much easier to access.

All I did with mine was to cut wire a bit larger than the window. Then attach the wire to the inside of the windows with a board to help keep the wire from slipping. I used dry wall screws. They zipped right into the plastic and couldn't be pulled out. Depending on the playhouse you have, there may be a few qaps in the sides that a draft could come through. I used all those Election signs that you can still find up, folded them in half and screwed them into the corners. I put 2 vents at each end of the house for ventilation.

 

[Luke13:34]

I have a playhouse coop. I live in New England and I am tall and not skinnyminny. My playhouse sits inside a Ft. Knox secured run, so the playhouse itself has not been predator-proofed. I put spray foam insulation into the walls. I silicone sealed across the top of the roof to keep the rain out. Used more foam spray to seal up under the "eaves" along the sides, but left it open front and back for ventilation. During warm weather, the windows are open during the day. With the colder weather, I screwed plexi over the shutters and put duct tape around the edges.

I tried just having a dirt floor, but that got very muddy in the first rain, so I found some bricks in my garage and gave them a brick floor. Lots of hay makes it warm and soft.

Would I love to have a nice, wooden coop with lots of space and the ability to stand up in? Sure.. but I still recommend the playhouse method and a viable alternative. I'll try to get some pix for you later.