We're doing just that. Still in the process of building the run; after that, we'll start on the playhouse-to-coop conversion. Our run will be 9 feet wide and 15 feet long and 6feet three inches high. Three different sized meshes, all galvanized welded wire. All four sides and the top will be 14gauge, with 1 inch by 2 inch holes. Then will have an apron overlaying that all around the four sides for the lower three feet, made of 19 gauge half-inch by half-inch holes. Then a larger size mesh hole of a stronger gauge to go from the bottom horizontal board of the run down into the earth for about a foot and then bent horizontally out, away from the run. We'll bury that last mesh and cover it with rocks or slates and flowering planters, etc., to weigh it down. Our biggest concern is raccoons and possoms.
Our coop will be a Little Tykes playhouse which we'll keep as a freestanding structure, unattached to the coop. Got that idea from another BYC poster; I think it's brilliant. If I keep the run predator-proof, I don't have to deal with coop security. We've positioned the run on a bit of a hill and will place the coop in the upper corner of the run, so any rain will run downhill, away from the coop. It's not a real "hill," just a gentle slope.
The only ideas we have so far about the coop conversion is that we'll raise the roof up so as to leave four to six inches of ventilation all around. Will cover the wide open window with plexiglass so the ladies can look out and enjoy the view and sunshine. Not sure if I'll place a nest box in the other window or on the floor. Will try to figure out how to place a droppings board under whatever roost we install, in such a way that I can slide the poop-board out for daily scraping/cleaning.
Will use the deep-litter-method right on the bare ground inside the coop. I'm getting too old to be stooping and bending to get into the kid-sized playhouse. Even with the roof raised, it's too low to be human-friendly. Will probably hang the food station and the water station from one of the run's overhead beams, just outside the coop.
It doesn't get much colder than about 35 degrees in winter; Summer average temperature is 72F. Can at times be 10 degrees more extreme in winter, and 20 degrees more extreme in summer, but not often. The existing wooden fence on the nearby property line will prevent any wind coming out of the north. And the whole set up is under huge shade trees that leaf out in summer and provide sun protection.
We're planning on keeping the coop's chicken-door open all year, all day and all night. A Little Tykes photo of their playhouse is at
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1661874#p1661874
Here are some pictures of our run construction so far. You can also see a bit of our playhouse in one of the photos. It's sitting in our fix-it stash, along with our lop-sided rocking chair that needs its detached rocker glued back on.
