Playset Conversion Help

[lonestar8302]

Hello!

We life in Eastern NC and are looking to start with 2-5 chickens. We have this old playset in the backyard that my kids have outgrown, and are thinking about converting it to a coop but I am completely lost on how to do it, or if it is even feasible with this set up.

Total height (yellow line) is73", and I would add a roof to it.

From the bottom to the platform (pink line) is 38". I'm thinking remove the ladder, and build that platform out? And then enclosing that area?

Length (green line) is 39"

Width (blue) is 29"

And the beam with the swings is 69" .

I have plenty of extra 2x4's laying around, but it's very overwhelming trying to figure out where to begin. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I've searched through alot of the posts here and have seen similar things done with different play sets, but I'm having trouble adapting those to what I have.

Thanks

 

[GodLovesU]

Not sure if this will help but here’s an example where someone did something similar:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/playset-conversion.66936/

 

[rosemarythyme]

Without seeing exactly how it's put together I'd think about knocking out the existing floor and dropping it down to maybe 24" off the ground, then building it out to twice the width (blue) for the coop itself (which would give you close to 16 sq ft, good for around 4 adult standard hens). Run could be built out from there, maybe if you triple the width and then matched on the other side from the end of the beam, it'd give you roughly 50 sq ft which should be enough for 4 again, assuming a docile flock. Bigger would be better if you have the space, but I wouldn't go smaller than that.

 

[perkolator]

To me it looks like decent bones to make a coop from, I'd likely keep the swing set beam as part of an attached run, make the sleeping quarters upstairs and use the downstairs part for enclosed feed storage.

38" to the bottom of the 2x6 supporting the floor is a little on the tall side, but I prefer a raised coop for cleaning reasons as you can get a cart/wheelbarrow and just rake into it. It's usable but wouldn't be too difficult to lower it a few inches if you wanted for better ergonomics.

Framing-in the walls won't need much as there's already structure. Depending on what you plan to skin the exterior with you may just be able to slap some sheeting or whatever material over the top; I'd consider making a human access door where the stairs/rock wall is located. I'd likely try to source a free window and install on there too, and make chicken door face the run with a simple ladder to get up/down. Adding a simple single sloped roof overhead is also pretty straightforward, just make one side higher and use the triangle gap underneath as ventilation holes. I added nest boxes both inside my raised coop and underneath, but it's the underneath ones that everyone uses, so I'd just put boxes underneath accessed from the run, and partition it off so you can have dry enclosed storage for feed and supplies.

I would start by just doing some quick doodles and getting ideas worked out on paper. If you need further build help, there's lots of us who'd chime in. Good luck!