Repurposed playhouse coop

[Rasputin66]

I built this! I bought the playhouse on Craigslist for $50 and added some stuff. I'm embarrassed at how much time I spent on this thing.

Obligatory flock pics. The coop is up on a couple of pallets to keep it dry. The birds like to hang out on the porch.

My neighbor's kids threw a papaya over the fence, so now I have some papaya trees. I planted lettuce in the flowerpots, but the Serama won't let them grow more than a centimeter. Open to suggestions on something else I can put in them.

The nest boxes are made out of cat litter buckets so I can access them from the outside. They're watertight. It rains constantly here so this is a concern for me.

This fake egg is supposed to convince them to lay in here. It is not really working consistently.

Nest box under construction. The plastic flap at the back is for the egg drop. I added a block at the front under a piece of carpet so the eggs will roll towards the back and under the flap.

The back wall is shuttered for ventilation and easy cleanout. I can close the slats if it's going to rain.

The windows and gables are all plastic shutters that I cut down to size. Ignore broody bird and general coop grossness. Pop door is under the little poop awning.

 

[aart]

Very cute, but very tight quarters for 5 LF birds and the bantam.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

View attachment 2503090

I love chicken coops and how creative people get with them!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I built this! I bought the playhouse on Craigslist for $50 and added some stuff. I'm embarrassed at how much time I spent on this thing.

View attachment 1707634
Obligatory flock pics. The coop is up on a couple of pallets to keep it dry. The birds like to hang out on the porch.

View attachment 1707635
My neighbor's kids threw a papaya over the fence, so now I have some papaya trees. I planted lettuce in the flowerpots, but the Serama won't let them grow more than a centimeter. Open to suggestions on something else I can put in them.

View attachment 1707636
The nest boxes are made out of cat litter buckets so I can access them from the outside. They're watertight. It rains constantly here so this is a concern for me.

View attachment 1707637
This fake egg is supposed to convince them to lay in here. It is not really working consistently.

View attachment 1707633
Nest box under construction. The plastic flap at the back is for the egg drop. I added a block at the front under a piece of carpet so the eggs will roll towards the back and under the flap.

View attachment 1707639
The back wall is shuttered for ventilation and easy cleanout. I can close the slats if it's going to rain.

View attachment 1707640
The windows and gables are all plastic shutters that I cut down to size. Ignore broody bird and general coop grossness. Pop door is under the little poop awning.

That is so cool and cute looking! You really got creative! I love it! I bet you had a lot of fun working on it! My girls love their kitty litter nest box the best. Here is the photo, I took the flap off and put a little curtain on it and put a brick inside so it wouldn’t tip over when they get in. The kitty litter box is in the middle and the roost and poop board are above the three nesting areas. This is my current coop for my big girls. I want to have fun building a playhouse one though for my Polish that I’m getting in August.

 

[aart]

I built this! I bought the playhouse on Craigslist for $50 and added some stuff. I'm embarrassed at how much time I spent on this thing.

@Rasputin66 how has this worked out in the long run?

 

[3KillerBs]

They look like they have plenty a room outside. I have a coop that is 4‘ x 8‘ for my nine big girls and they only go in there to roost at night or to lay eggs. I feel like they can fit in half the size. They only poop on the poop board, so I feel like as long as you clean out all the poop every day, why would there be a problem? I could be wrong, but I think it is more a matter of how clean you keep it. I would think a big coop with a build up of chicken poop would be more of a health issue, looks like they have plenty of ventilation.

A. Because cleaning it out every day is that "intensive management" I mentioned. Should there ever come a day when the chicken keeper is unable to do that because of being ill, traveling, or having some other emergency the sanitation will be compromised.

B. Because there will come a day when they will not be able to go outside -- because of predators, because of something like the current UK lockdown, because the owner has had an emergency and cannot let them out, etc. -- and they will be jammed like sardines into a space that will not allow them to move freely around each other and work out their pecking order issues.

C. Because we backyard chicken keepers generally aim to give them a better life than if they were jammed into commercial-farm-density quarters.

A very large pen only compensates for a too-small coop up to a point -- that point being the day that they don't have access to that pen.

 

[theoldchick]

 

[3KillerBs]

Very cute and a lot of creative adaptation there, but it is awfully small.

You need 4 square feet per standard size bird inside the coop.

Intensive management *can* enable keeping chickens in higher densities -- but it increases the likelihood of health and behavior problems.

 

[Spartan22]

Nice job! The only suggestion I have is for your nesting boxes, they’re a pain to open and close, so there will be a lot of jarring of eggs and laying hens in the future. With it exposed to the weather in your area that cat litter bucket will deteriorate overtime, so maybe an overhang roof over it and an easy to open seal tight doors. Otherwise you did an awesome repurpose construction, good luck with your chickens.

 

[Rasputin66]

Very cute, but very tight quarters for 5 LF birds and the bantam.

You think so? They only go inside to sleep and lay eggs.