Playhouse Chicken Coop?

[Birdsonghill]

I used a plywood playhouse 4x8 ftx5 ft high, with a shingled roof, for a coop for several years. It worked but was not fun to clean out. It had to be anchored down with cables and earth augers after being blown over twice in storms, despite weighing many hundreds of pounds. The little plastic playhouses are mostly junk as are many of the small coops sold online. Research well or build a small and simple coop yourself. Remember small buildings must be well anchored down or attached to a concrete foundation to be safe for your animals, in exposed areas. Good luck new chicken people!

 

[SkipperDoo]

What a cute idea! I am a "newbie" to raising chickens as an adult, Silkies to be exact, but I have read a lot about raising chickens and grew up with them on our lil farm. From what I have learned, you need areas large enough to house certain numbers of chickens! I think having 8-10 chickens in the playhouse would be okay, but like I said, it's a guess! You don't want too many fighting for space! You would need to add appropriate wire or chicken wire to the open areas to protect your chickens from predictors! You should and places the can roost like broom handle sized poles across a couple places for them to sit and of course a couple nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs! You want a way to easily collect their eggs. This means that wherever you put your nesting boxes there should be access to the outside where you can just reach in and collect the eggs without going into the coop! I hope this makes sense and helps you a little! I bought a "mini" barn for my 2 Silkies, but I don't keep them confined to such a small area. They stay in when it's too cold but the rest of the time they are free to roam the yard. In the first photo below, the roof wasn't quite finished but to the right you can see the nesting box that I access from the outside. 2-3 chickens will often share one nesting box! Make sure you gather eggs everyday if you are eating them!

Very cute silkies. I would love to be able to free range but I have hawks around almost everyday so I can't. My inside coop will be around just under 16 sq. ft. I am getting 3 Barred Rocks, which are big so I'm at my max with 3. I plan on 6x8 covered pen with clear corrugated sheets for roof and high point at 7 ft tall. I'm hoping they will be content. When I chicken sat the main thing I realized is that they must have stimulation in pen area. I hung shower mirrors and plan on swings and roost in pen, oh and a dust bathing area. I can't wait to get mine

 

[Jeddice]

My Silkies have their own coop and pen. My big girls have 3 coops and a pen as well as a yard to play in. We started with 8 chicks, then had to re-home 5 boys, so thought my first coop would be enough. . never heard of “chicken math”. Bought another coop. Met a woman who asked if I could take her a Chickens due to health issues, sure why not, the more the merrier. Well these sweeties needed a coop. We have no carpenter abilities in this house. So we have 3 of these “snap an locks”.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

My Silkies have their own coop and pen. My big girls have 3 coops and a pen as well as a yard to play in. We started with 8 chicks, then had to re-home 5 boys, so thought my first coop would be enough. . never heard of “chicken math”. Bought another coop. Met a woman who asked if I could take her a Chickens due to health issues, sure why not, the more the merrier. Well these sweeties needed a coop. We have no carpenter abilities in this house. So we have 3 of these “snap an locks”.

I may use something like what is shown in your picture for something like a silkie. Would never use it for a normal standard sized bird. Looks far to small.

 

[Pamela Janssen]

So I’m new to this website, and I apologize if I’m not using the right thing to ask questions but I was wondering if this playhouse: https://www.walmart.com/ip/KidKraft...awHV8vh1h0ari389bXEaAsEYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds would work as a chicken coop?

What could I do to make it more suitable as a chicken coop? Or is that even a good idea?

 

[D704cb]

Not to wind resistant or predator proof, plastic gets brittle after sun exposure

 

[SkipperDoo]

My Silkies have their own coop and pen. My big girls have 3 coops and a pen as well as a yard to play in. We started with 8 chicks, then had to re-home 5 boys, so thought my first coop would be enough. . never heard of “chicken math”. Bought another coop. Met a woman who asked if I could take her a Chickens due to health issues, sure why not, the more the merrier. Well these sweeties needed a coop. We have no carpenter abilities in this house. So we have 3 of these “snap an locks”.

I've wondered how they are. They look and sound like they would work very well. Do you like it?

 

[SkipperDoo]

My Silkies have their own coop and pen. My big girls have 3 coops and a pen as well as a yard to play in. We started with 8 chicks, then had to re-home 5 boys, so thought my first coop would be enough. . never heard of “chicken math”. Bought another coop. Met a woman who asked if I could take her a Chickens due to health issues, sure why not, the more the merrier. Well these sweeties needed a coop. We have no carpenter abilities in this house. So we have 3 of these “snap an locks”.

I wish I went with yours

 

[Jeddice]

I wish I went with yours

I love the 3 snap an locks, I’ve had the first one for 3 yrs now. Live in MA. Each has 3 roosts and 4 nesting boxes. The ladies only sleep an lay their eggs in them. poop trays slide out so they get cleaned pretty much everyday. We do the deep litter method in the pen, clean out is in the spring. The playhouse we got for the silkies is really big for the 4 of them. Only one uses the roosting bar. The others like to pile up together on the floor. (Guess that means we could get some more “chicken math”.)

 

[Birdsonghill]

Ahh I see, thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely take that into consideration when finalizing which coop I’ll buy/build.

As for electrolytes, is there a specific store bought kind I should give them? Or is there a way to supplement it another way? (I know for calcium you can grind up their shells and use that as a supplement)

Be sure the electrolytes also have vitamins to help prevent feet and leg deformities that are common in new chicks.