Renovating a play house for a cooop...need help

[Patoot]

I've had my chickens for a couple years already and they have a nice coop, but it's ugly. I found a cute play house on Craigslist that I want to renovate to make a nice coop. It has a door and three windows. I was going to put a nest box out of one window for easy collection and also not to take up space inside. I was going to put plexiglass over the other two windows, but I want to make sure there is enough ventilation. There is also an opening over the top of the door.

How do I secure a nest box to a plastic playhouse?
What's the best way to ensure enough ventilation?

Would a picture of the play house help more?

Thanks!

 

[DaddyBird]

My wife and I actually looked at doing the same thing. I was planning to drill right through the plastic and mount 2x4s using some stainless bolts with large washers to keep them from pulling through the plastic. As for ventilation, don't plexiglass up the windows. Screen them and make some simple sliding or folding down covers..

 

[cknkids]

please post a pic, it always help. For ventilation put hardware cloth over the windows. Our first coop was a playhouse and it had plastic shutters over the windows so lots of ventilation. We used wide head screws to attach hardware cloth and anything else. We kept a careful eye for signs of predators trying too get in. Our plans was to attach a run to the playhouse and ended up building a new hen house as part of the final run. The play house was old and when I checked this winter the roof did leak so I glad to have moved away from it. We'll keep it around as temp housing for any new chicks.

 

[shannacrew]

My coop is a playhouse. I used screws with washers and hardware cloth over the windows. I also caulked all seams, both inside and out. Where I needed extra support (for pop door) I used a serrated knife and cut out the shape I wanted, then cut 2x2s to fit inside. I then screwed directly into the wood....made it much stronger. I hope this makes sense! I will use plastic sheeting and magnets (they stick to the wire) when I need to cover the windows due to cold. Good luck on your playhouse renovation, I love how ours turned out!

 

[aart]

My coop is a playhouse. I used screws with washers and hardware cloth over the windows. I also caulked all seams, both inside and out. Where I needed extra support (for pop door) I used a serrated knife and cut out the shape I wanted, then cut 2x2s to fit inside. I then screwed directly into the wood....made it much stronger. I hope this makes sense! I will use plastic sheeting and magnets (they stick to the wire) when I need to cover the windows due to cold. Good luck on your playhouse renovation, I love how ours turned out!

Wow that's quite the playhouse, never seen one like that!! Where are you located?

 

[Patoot]

Wow! Thanks for all the ideas!!! I will get a pic and post it for more information.

Okay, so no plexiglass then? That means I don't need to worry about ventilation, but wouldn't that be too much draft? I guess that's why you suggested sliding things covers. Hmm... Maybe I could make up a shutter type thing?

I should just go take a darn pic.

 

[Patoot]

Okay, here is the pic.



This is the side view. The blue thing is a little swinging door. The two sides have identical window sizes and the back window is a little smaller. It's actually a pretty decent size play house even though it looks smallish here. I only have three chickens. I was thinking of putting the nest box in the back window, a 2x4 for a roosting bar in the middle, and their food dish in there. Also, do I need to worry about them getting too hot at all since it's plastic? I'm guessing not since they only sleep in there at night and I'm not going to be plexi-glassing it. Thanks for all the help guys. You should see the ghetto coop they are in now. LOL It's actually super nice for them inside, but the outside is so ugly.

 

[shannacrew]

I'm in E. Texas, so I'm concerned more about the heat (I have a small fan that will go in the coop) than the cold (but I also have a heat light for frosty nights). I wish I had a good before pic of the castle, it was faded and yucky. Amazing what spray paint can do! I used the Fusion brand specifically for plastic, seems to be holding up pretty well.

 

[shannacrew]

Okay, here is the pic.



This is the side view. The blue thing is a little swinging door. The two sides have identical window sizes and the back window is a little smaller. It's actually a pretty decent size play house even though it looks smallish here. I only have three chickens. I was thinking of putting the nest box in the back window, a 2x4 for a roosting bar in the middle, and their food dish in there. Also, do I need to worry about them getting too hot at all since it's plastic? I'm guessing not since they only sleep in there at night and I'm not going to be plexi-glassing it. Thanks for all the help guys. You should see the ghetto coop they are in now. LOL It's actually super nice for them inside, but the outside is so ugly.

You could put heavy plastic/plexiglass halfway up the window if you are concerned with the amount of ventilation. Those are big windows, so just leaving the top arch open with wire will still give you a good cross breeze. I was worried about it getting too hot as well, so I raised mine on a platform, 1/3 of the platform (under their perch) is wire so it also gets air.

 

[Patoot]

I'm in Albuquerque so it does get hot here too, but not humid.

Ooh, I thought of another question...the bottom is open and I was just going to leave it that way. We don't have a risk of any digging animals going under the coop. I was going to put some flat cement garden stone things on the floor of the coop with shavings on top. I don't think they even need that, but that way the ground won't be saturated with water when it rains (like 5 times a year). That sound okay? I would raise it up, but I'm not that skilled carpentry wise.

Thanks.