Coop and run ideas?

[TXchickenNewb]

Hello, I am new to owning chickens. My wife and I are looking to get a few for our backyard. We have a kids playhouse in the backyard that I would like to use but looking for some ideas. It is about 4-5 feet off the ground. Would that be too high for the coop? Would they have trouble getting into it if that high? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you!!

 

[aart]

They could probably do that ramp, wouldn't even need the handrails
Might want to reduce the angle.
How many birds do you plan on having?
How big is the 'house'?
Will you free range or build a secure run?

 

[TXchickenNewb]

They could probably do that ramp, wouldn't even need the handrails
Might want to reduce the angle.
How many birds do you plan on having?
How big is the 'house'?
Will you free range or build a secure run?

Plan on probably 4 birds. The house is approx. 8’ x 4’.
I would want to build a secure run for them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

That looks like a fun project. Assuming the roof provides sufficient coverage for interior, you might be able to do as little as one or two solid walls facing prevailing winds and then wire mesh over the rest for a ton of ventilation. And if the ramp doesn't pan out, you could also try building rungs like a ladder for the birds to hop/fly their way up.

Trickier part is human access for cleaning or catching birds. Maybe you could put human steps where the ramp currently is, and then ladder rungs where the slide is?

 

[perkolator]

How would you clean it out at that height? Push it all out and down the slide?? Hahaha
Chickens poop a lot at night and where they sleep needs to be maintained accordingly. I can’t imagine having to clean out poop that’s close to eye level raining down on me as I clean, yuck. I see no problem using the structure but I would likely lower it to around 3ft if I was using it for a coop.
Chickens can get up to 5ft no problem with that ramp to climb. Mine hang out at the top of my run all the time and it’s about 6-7ft high, they have a few lower branches to help get this high. Observed they need about 6-8 feet distance for safe landing area though so keep that in mind when sizing your run or they’ll all hit the wall when landing

 

[rosemarythyme]

How would you clean it out at that height? Push it all out and down the slide?? Hahaha

Now that's a creative repurposing of a slide! And here I was thinking you could just teach the chickens to slide down in the morning...