Converted Cedar Playhouse to Coop???

[SunnyAlberta]

A plastic Step2 or Little Tikes play house, used, costs less. The cedar playhouse you show is the one available at Costco, correct?

 

[itsren]

A plastic Step2 or Little Tikes play house, used, costs less. The cedar playhouse you show is the one available at Costco, correct?

Our local Sam's Club has it for ... I think it was $260. They have it listed for $449 online... but that's not what our local club has it for. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod5970215&navAction=

 

[SweetSilver]

The combination of cedar and stain did make me think a bit. When I was looking at it, I could smell the stain.

So, if I use old (reclaimed) cedar to build the coop and paint it, would the chickens be better off? The old decking I have is pretty grey - would that make it less toxic? That I got for free.

I'm not sure, but I think old cedar is going to be pretty good, neverminding any possible sealant. I can't account for that, but I would feel pretty safe with reclaimed cedar. Ours is old, unstained planking that was used for the side of a cabin. Again, ventilated well because it's just good to do that.

 

[SunnyAlberta]

I'm using an old, unstained cedar rabbit hutch. It has no cedar odor anymore. I do plan to paint the inside with an exterior barn paint for ease of cleaning.

 

[itsren]

While we're figuring out what to do with the coop, I'm trying to build the run out of reclaimed 2x4's. Ugh. Getting old warped wood to work is not an easy task. I'm about ready to throw in the towel with the whole project. But... I got 3 babies needing a home soon, so I guess I better just carry on.

 

[itsren]

Well. We bought supplies to build a coop on our own. Too bad that cute little play house had to be built out of cedar! Fingers crossed this goes well!

I must confess - I'm nervous about the building process. This is the design I put together:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/little-city-chicken-coop

 

[Mompigeon]

Just read this post and wanted to let you know that you did the right thing in NOT buying that play house. I had the same idea and bought it before our chicks arrived. We let the kids play in it for about a week. We did buy it at Sam's Club for $269, I think. Ended up returning it and wish I could warn everyone not to buy it. It was so cheaply made. When we put it together, it didn't quite fit right and there was a lot of cracking going on. Some of the wood completely broke. The kicker for me was when it got a little windy and the door flew open (wimpy magnet on the door) and the entire door snapped off. It wasn't even fixable. Took it back and since the damage was so bad, they didn't even argue with us. If you see others talking about buying the thing, pass on this info. =)

 

[itsren]

Sorry that happened to you. Thanks for letting us know it wasn't well made. I'm glad they took it back.

We found a guy locally who builds coops. We ended up buying a beautiful one for $300. It wasn't finished - so we had to fill holes, sand, paint and roof it - but it turned out adorable. Then, we just built the run ourselves. I love it. I'm so glad we didn't go with the Sam's Club playhouse. I'll post pictures soon.

 

[KimG]

Itsren,

New at this to.....Did you ever do this??? Was it successful? We ironically enough just purchased the same playhouse off of Craigslist and realized after the fact about the cedar. Please let me know if it worked out for you! Thanks : ))))

 

[KimG]

Itsren,

New at this to.....Did you ever do this??? Was it successful? We ironically enough just purchased the same playhouse off of Craigslist and realized after the fact about the cedar. Please let me know if it worked out for you! Thanks : ))))

Ok, I just realized after I asked this question that I did not go to the next page and just read all the previous posts - I guess my kids will be playing in it as we bought it off Craigslist and can't return it (((