Coop Playhouse Project

[Mamas_Looney_Farm]

So my and my bestie had an idea.. We have an old playhouse on our property and we were thinking about turning it into a 2 story coop. It’s currently being used to store bikes and my cat brings squirrels into the top to eat... lol.. Just wandering if anyone had any tips or ideas to make it better. We’re going to be using 1/4 inch hardware cloth all around it and we are going to bury it so nothing can dig in. The open part is going to be a run and there’s (hopefully) going to be a ladder going to the top, and we are going to paint it and make it real cute ( we hope lol ) So any tips or ideas to help make it cute, safer or just comments are welcome
Here’s a picture of the playhouse before we cleaned up... will post more Tomorrow

 

[DobieLover]

I think it would end up being more difficult to maintain a 2 story coop. Picture having to climb up there to clean it, haul bedding up, collect eggs. It's just not worth the trouble IMO.
I would take the elevated part off, put the roof on the playhouse floor (thereby making it the ceiling of your new coop) and re-use the lumber from the elevated section towards finishing framing in the bottom as a walk-in style coop. Then build a large run attached to that.
You could even use the area under the roof for storage of bedding, oyster shell, tools, etc.
You can attach the hardware cloth in a 2' predator apron around the entire perimeter of the coop to prevent digging animals from gaining access.

 

[Mamas_Looney_Farm]

@DobieLover I would take the elevated part off but it’s basically being held up by posts connected to the top, and we plan on having 20+ chickens in there. But you’re right about having to bring stuff up there. That’s gonna be fun lol. We plan on putting hanging plants on the roof as well. Any herbs that chickens could eat that are pretty? Lol I know nothing about plants.

 

[electrycmonk]

To your credit:
1) there are 'human stairs' going up to top
2) top looks to be at least 4' tall at peak
3) it is realistically do-able with what you've alluded to so far
4) would you be training the chicks in the mystical arts of sled rides from the 2nd story into the sandbox of the future 'run'?

(Cue devil's advocate)
1) don't know your geographic locale
2) don't know your wind level issues; which will be compounded by the elivation of the 2nd story *IF* left in use as a 2nd story
3) Weather pattern normalized for know prevailing wind, storms, & humidity fun.
4) seasonally adjusted maintenance & thermal barriers for monsoons? snow (wet or dry)? Alberta Clippers? Tornado Alley? Hurricanes?

 

[DobieLover]

@DobieLover I would take the elevated part off but it’s basically being held up by posts connected to the top, and we plan on having 20+ chickens in there. But you’re right about having to bring stuff up there. That’s gonna be fun lol. We plan on putting hanging plants on the roof as well. Any herbs that chickens could eat that are pretty? Lol I know nothing about plants.

All you would have to do is disassemble everything on the upper level then use a sawzall to cut the posts flush with the floor of the playhouse. Then use the roofing material to put the roof over the playhouse floor thereby turning it into a storage area and the new ceiling of the walk-in coop. You would be able to reuse the lumber from the railing assembly to frame out the gable peaks and install a door for access. Enclose all of it with 1/2" hardware cloth. You'd want to use a lot of 1/2" hardware cloth to enclose the coop too. Being in Texas where you don't get any real winters, you could leave a lot of the area open and secured with 1/2" HC year round.

You are only going to be able to house the number of chickens your set up can properly hold. You could cram more in there but it always, and I do mean ALWAYS, leads to problems. And overcrowding in a Texas heat environment can lead to deadly problems, fast.