My mostly recycled Little Tikes coop

[kgend912]

I'm so excited that this is almost finished. With the exception of cutting the floor boards, I did this all by myself! I picked up this little tikes playhouse for $20 on craigslist. I've been working on it little by little over the past 3 weeks. I have less than $50 in it, including the playhouse. I had to buy the 2x4's for the floor frame, all of the rest of the wood is recycled. I had to buy the roll of hardware cloth too.

Things I did:
-Built floor frame, treated 2x4's, recycled plywood
-covered all windows with hardware cloth, secured by screws and washers
-secured roost to walls. It's only a 1x4, but the coop will only house bantams, so I'm hoping it will be strong enough. I can always brace it in the middle if needed.
-Added a ledge at the window (pop door) opening. My LF girls came in to investigate. They have no problem clearing the window, but the small window sill caught one a little off balance, so hopefully the ledge will help with that.
-Added pop door
-Put latches on the front door. I also made a removable nest box that will sit in by the front door. When they start to lay, I'll just be able to open the door and gather eggs. I can remove the nest box to clean out the deep litter.
-Caulked the roof seam. We haven't had much rain, but coop did stay dry, with the exception of the one side that we forgot to close the shutters on. Even then, it wasn't much rain because the shed blocks the wind/rain direction.
-built the ladder ramp coming down from the pop door window.


Things left to do:
-I still need to decide what to do about the opening above the pop door. Is this a good place for a vent? Make a window that can open/close..Its a little hard to reach from the inside. Or, just block it off completely with plywood? Any thoughts on that are appreciated.
-Before winter I will fill the walls with "great stuff" spray insulation
-Make window coverings for winter. My plan is to make velcro shower curtain inserts for the 3 windows. That should still let in a lot of light, but block rain/snow/wind. It will also let me control how much the windows are covered. Hopefully this works out as well as it does in my head!
-Build the run, which is scheduled for this weekend!

So, enough rambling...here are the pictures.

It's stealth...big barn, little playhouse. The run will go straight back, so from the front, it will always just look like the playhouse.

Hardware cloth on windows and door. latches on door.

Roost going across on the left, ledge at pop door at the back.

Hardware cloth around the eaves. I didn't go all the way around. The roof is securely attached, so I only covered the spots that had greater than a 3/4" gap. There is venting around the top for probably 80% of the house. (This also shows the one opening that I don't know what to do with.

Pop door and ladder. Still have to secure the door when its closed.

Roof seam caulked. You can see some of the roof venting here too.

All in all, I'm happy with how this turned out. I'd love to hear what you think. Because the house is secure, I'll be using 2x4" rabbit fencing for the run. Materials for the fence will be about $50 total. So, this has turned out to be a very inexpensive coop project. It is going to house 3 or 4 bantams. The inside area is slightly bigger than 12 square feet, so you could easily house 3 LF breeds too.

Thanks for looking!

 

[stubbornhill]

Your little tykes coop is looking awesome! Great job. You should be proud of yourself! As far as the space above the pop door. I assume that the door is going to swing up when the girls are in the run? If so, most of the time, that space will be blocked with the door anyway. I think I would just cut a piece of wood to fit, and just because I am me...I would paint it to look like a stained glass window or put "closed for business" or something fun on it. You may also be able to get a glass company to cut a piece of plexiglass to fit and then you would have some daylight in there when they are closed up. Just some ideas. Can't wait to see the completed pics!

 

[catsew]

Thats what my husband wanted to do originally, but we couldn't find a used playhouse for less than buying the materials we needed. Of course that was early summer when they were in high demand. We also had most of the wood already, so we didn't need to buy too much extra.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

How adorable! We actually have one of those out in the woods in front of the house that we purchased something like 14 years ago. I've been eyeing it and wondering how I could convert it to chicken use. I'm not sure it would hold up against our Colorado winters, but perhaps I'll copy your ideas for a little coop for a broody hen (my secret plans for next spring...don't tell my husband

)

 

[tpeila]

Do you have a picture of your nesting boxes? We have one of these houses. I showed my daughter the picture. She said she wants to make one. She is only 2!

 

[pinkwindsong]

Quote:
you could always put up some insulation board inside to hold heat better I have been searching for a used house for months I want one of there little coops sooo badly.. haha good luck with yours. it could alos be a summer cottage for your girls..

)O(
Pink

 

[kgend912]

Thanks everyone!

I searched CL all.the.time until I found this one. Some people were wanting almost $100 for theirs, others $40 or $50. Until this one, I was always too slow to get one of the cheaper ones. I probably started looking in March.


I will take a pic of the nest boxes tomorrow. We picked up the girls today. They're only 3 weeks, so we won't need the nest boxes for a while. Basically I made a 2 hole stacked cubby (like the cubes you buy at target/walmart) with scrap plywood and then put some more scrap to make a lip in the front to hold the litter. They're really really basic. When they start laying the boxes will sit in front of the big people door. We'll open it to get eggs and when we need to clean out the litter, just slide the boxes out. That's the plan anyway.

For cold winters...we don't have super cold winters, but usually have snow on the ground Dec - Feb. Occasionally we get below 0 at night, but not often. The coop is definitely not drafty when the windows are closed. With the spray insulation in the walls, I really think we'll be good for the cold.


We picked up the girls this morning and they're all settled in for the night! They look so cute out there.

 

[goobhen]

By any chance are you in Plainfield, Indiana?

 

[kgend912]

Quote:
I am

 

[goobhen]

I think you did a great job on your coop! My husband said as long as you cover the windows, your chickens should be okay over the winter. The first year I had chickens, we heated the coop, last year we did not. I think the chickens did better without the heat! Next year I am downsizing my flock & only going to have eight chickens.....

Good luck and have fun! Theresa