Old Playhouse to Hen House :)

[l1sagayl3]

Before we leaned all about chicken math, I ordered a coop kit from amazon thinking we’d only have 3 hens. Well now we have 7 and there’s just no way they’ll all for comfortably. Because they will free range during the day and sleep in their coop at night, we really didn’t need something huge.

I found an old playhouse for free on a local Buy Nothing group and am currently in the process of converting it. It’s not quite done yet but I did want to go ahead and get a thread started for it!

A couple of disclaimers:
We used Rustoleum 2x because it claimed to bond to plastic but, we have had a few places it’s scratched off. We also live in Oklahoma so the weather here is wild and we can experience all 4 seasons in a week so there are no promises on how long it will take for me to get it outside and assembled.

Before:

After painting and attaching hardware cloth to doors & windows:


I still need to get locks for the shutters/door, find a cute little door knob and figure out what to do for flooring and put in a roosting bar/nesting boxes.

More to come in the coming weeks!

 

[Angeline1978]

That is awesome! Great idea!! Definitely show us more as it gets done.

 

[chickie22]

Cute!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

How did you add ventilation? Is your coop finished?

 

[JDN]

How did you add ventilation? Is your coop finished?

She wouldn't need to. She just put HC on the doors and windows.

 

[l1sagayl3]

Yes, this is correct! I just put hardware cloth over the doors and windows! It is done! And it works perfectly for us. They free range during the day, so this is just a sleeping spot. We just used a slide lock on the door.

 

[ChickieChickieMama]

Great job! It's super cute.

I have a Victorian playhouse for my kids...and I fantasize sometimes about the day I can evict them and move some chickens into it haha. Kids in a tiny house are adorable but chickens in one are just beyond!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Ok. Because I modded a plastic playhouse for my ducks. I am having rain issues. I left a gap at the top for ventilation. The side windows are open, but I made overhangs to keep the rain out of those windows. How does it not rain in if you have it totally open? My ducks don't mind so much, but if I had chickens in there, they might.
My playhouse is different than yours, but has similar windows.

 

[VyeFye]

Ok. Because I modded a plastic playhouse for my ducks. I am having rain issues. I left a gap at the top for ventilation. The side windows are open, but I made overhangs to keep the rain out of those windows. How does it not rain in if you have it totally open? My ducks don't mind so much, but if I had chickens in there, they might.
My playhouse is different than yours, but has similar windows.

I don't understand why you left a gap in the roof if you have windows? Would the windows not provide adequate ventilation? They are not a glass/plastic window, just open, correct?

 

[VyeFye]

Great job! It's super cute.

I have a Victorian playhouse for my kids...and I fantasize sometimes about the day I can evict them and move some chickens into it haha. Kids in a tiny house are adorable but chickens in one are just beyond!

I asked my daughter if we could use hers for chickens and she said no. She's almost 4. I'll try again next year.