HELP! building and designing coop from swingset.

[muphynz]

Hello there, ya'll can call me Muphynz ( like muffins). My fiance and I are buying our first house and the seller is leaving a pretty, tho older looking, swing-set.
My fiance Has to have chickens ( bc shes kinda strange) and has left to me the task of transforming this swing-set into a coop.
I do have ideas of what to do and how to do it but I was curious what ideas some professional/experience hen owners such as yourselves
we are planning on having around 6 hens for egg laying only. Our HOA will not allow roosters but they allow up to 6 hens so thats the goal.
anyways any help, ideas, or tips are super appreciated.

 

[N F C]

Hi!

There have been playsets converted to coops in the Coop section of the Learning Center. let me see what I can find:
Playset Conversion
Ms Biddy's Upcycled Swingset Coop
Upcycled Swing Set to Chicken Coop

Hope those help! You may find more examples using the Search tool.

Best of luck!

 

[muphynz]

Hi!

There have been playsets converted to coops in the Coop section of the Learning Center. let me see what I can find:
Playset Conversion
Ms Biddy's Upcycled Swingset Coop
Upcycled Swing Set to Chicken Coop

Hope those help! You may find more examples using the Search tool.

Best of luck!

thanks i am reading through all of those right now,
none of the ones i can find seem to have this circular tower part for the henhouse.
what would your thoughts be for roofing it and whatnot?

 

[aart]

It looks small.
Octogon (8 sides) floor?
How big from flat to flat?
Get out your tape measure.
I'll guess it's about 5-6'.

The dome framing over that floor would be very hard to waterproof, and ventilate.

Before speculating any further....
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[N F C]

Can the dome be removed? If that were gone, it would be easier to roof.

 

[muphynz]

It looks small.
Octogon (8 sides) floor?
How big from flat to flat?
Get out your tape measure.
I'll guess it's about 5-6'.

The dome framing over that floor would be very hard to waterproof, and ventilate.

Before speculating any further....
Welcome to BYC!
Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1661889

the "swing arm" part is about 6 ft long with the octogon attached.
My thoughts were id have to remove the dome topping and likely build the octogon out into a square ish with areas for roosting and making it as easy as possible to collect eggs.

WE will be living in Northern washington. Its 4 seasons, mostly raining.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My thoughts were id have to remove the dome topping and likely build the octogon out into a square ish with areas for roosting and making it as easy as possible to collect eggs.

WE will be living in Northern washington. Its 4 seasons, mostly raining.

I think that would make it far easier, to turn the octagon into a square and then roof it. I'd drop the floor down as well so it's maybe 18-24" off the ground max, because it's going to be hard building a usable ramp up to that height. OR... take out the floor and build the coop on the ground, which should give you a walk-in height coop.

For 6 hens you're going to want about 24 sq ft of floor space inside the coop. Not sure how large the octagon area currently is but keep that in mind while doing your calculations.

 

[aart]

the "swing arm" part is about 6 ft long with the octogon attached.

Then the octagon is probably only about 3-4'....that's pretty small.

 

[muphynz]

Then the octagon is probably only about 3-4'....that's pretty small.

yeah thats what i was thinking too.
If i were to build it out into a square... would the "tower-ey-ness" of it actually give the chickens more room or does the floor itself need about 30 square feet?

 

[rosemarythyme]

yeah thats what i was thinking too.
If i were to build it out into a square... would the "tower-ey-ness" of it actually give the chickens more room or does the floor itself need about 30 square feet?

It's floor space that you need to measure out. Height is good too, helpful for ventilation purposes, but chickens don't live on levels the way that something like a small songbird would.