QuackieChan
Hatching
- Sep 11, 2020
- 3
- 13
- 8
we made our chicken/duck coop from an old wooden playhouse that was left behind when we bought our new house. I thought I would share to give ideas to fellow DIYers lookig for ways to build their own coop.
This is the playhouse as it was when we got it. We first powerwashed it, and moved it into the location where our coop would be.
We wanted to match our house as much as we could.
He put down new plywood on the roof, and then attached the same shingles that we uses on our house. He built the egg box and started attaching sheets of siding to cover the exterior.
Here it is with most of the siding attached, and we've painted the siding white with black trim. You can also see the frame for the black metal roof we will be putting over the duck door.
Here is the black metal roof once its complete. We werent super happy with the angle, so later he pitched it forward a bit, so more of the metal roof is visible.
We dont have electric ran out this far into our yard, so in the previous picture you can see the solar panels he installed on the roof. Its a solar panel kit that he attached to a new car battery so it has a battery bank. Its enough power to work the lights inside both coops, the motion lights on the back, and the gooseneck lights that are on a timer that come on every night, that we put on the front of the coop.
Here he is working on the two small outdoor areas of each coop. I havent explained yet, but the ducks coop is on the bottom. The black farm door on the front is their entrance, while the chicken coop is on top. The chickens have a door at the back of the coop that is accessed by repurposing the stairs that were on the front of the playhouse. They have the same style door as the ducks do. We used hardware cloth to enclose the outdoor areas and then cut a hole in the siding so they can access them from inside the coop. We also built in a large door at the front of each outdoor area for easy access and cleaning.
Here is the coop all lit up at night after we installed the gooseneck lights.
We also lined the inside of both coops with cedar planks. Here are the happy ducks all tucked in their coop for the night.
We used natural branches from our property for the chicken's roosts. As you can see we made vents at the very top of the cool. Heat rises, and this way it has somewhere to exit so the girls stay nice and cool. We made plexiglass pieces that cover some of the windows to help keep out the cold winds during winter. After this photo we also trimmed out around the windows inside each of the coops to hide the washers we used to attach the harware cloth. Hardware cloth was also attached in all of the windows. Our guys and gals freerange now but we are in the process of building their run. We plan to do a large run with the same black metal roof that we used on the front. I will do another post when that is complete.
This is the playhouse as it was when we got it. We first powerwashed it, and moved it into the location where our coop would be.
We wanted to match our house as much as we could.
He put down new plywood on the roof, and then attached the same shingles that we uses on our house. He built the egg box and started attaching sheets of siding to cover the exterior.
Here it is with most of the siding attached, and we've painted the siding white with black trim. You can also see the frame for the black metal roof we will be putting over the duck door.
Here is the black metal roof once its complete. We werent super happy with the angle, so later he pitched it forward a bit, so more of the metal roof is visible.
We dont have electric ran out this far into our yard, so in the previous picture you can see the solar panels he installed on the roof. Its a solar panel kit that he attached to a new car battery so it has a battery bank. Its enough power to work the lights inside both coops, the motion lights on the back, and the gooseneck lights that are on a timer that come on every night, that we put on the front of the coop.
Here he is working on the two small outdoor areas of each coop. I havent explained yet, but the ducks coop is on the bottom. The black farm door on the front is their entrance, while the chicken coop is on top. The chickens have a door at the back of the coop that is accessed by repurposing the stairs that were on the front of the playhouse. They have the same style door as the ducks do. We used hardware cloth to enclose the outdoor areas and then cut a hole in the siding so they can access them from inside the coop. We also built in a large door at the front of each outdoor area for easy access and cleaning.
Here is the coop all lit up at night after we installed the gooseneck lights.
We also lined the inside of both coops with cedar planks. Here are the happy ducks all tucked in their coop for the night.
We used natural branches from our property for the chicken's roosts. As you can see we made vents at the very top of the cool. Heat rises, and this way it has somewhere to exit so the girls stay nice and cool. We made plexiglass pieces that cover some of the windows to help keep out the cold winds during winter. After this photo we also trimmed out around the windows inside each of the coops to hide the washers we used to attach the harware cloth. Hardware cloth was also attached in all of the windows. Our guys and gals freerange now but we are in the process of building their run. We plan to do a large run with the same black metal roof that we used on the front. I will do another post when that is complete.
