Start the playhouse coop conversion today need some advice.

[meathook]

Today was deconstruction day. Started looking like this.

Tip it over and start cutting and my friend Steve is starting to take things apart.

Here it is cut down and almost ready to start building. You can see my pile of "free" stuff in the back.

Here is the first question I am sure there will be more before this is done.

My plan is to have an 5' X 8 or 12' run. I want it to be high enough for the chickens to walk under and have shade but not too high to make getting in to clean hard or hard for the chickens to get out.

How steep can the walk out be from the coop? I think it will be too steep if I leave the coop this high. How steep can the board the chickens walk out be? I am thinking I should probably shorten it another foot or so. Thoughts?

 

[silkiechicken]

Depending on the bird, a 45 degree angle would be fine, but some might just jump and flap 5 feet straight up to get somewhere. Looking good!

 

[Peeplperson]

My coop is that high - I didn't want to have to be all bent over when I clean it - and the hens usually just hop or fly up. I think the spacing of the 'steps' or cross bars is more important than the angle of the board.

Good luck!

 

[Hoosiermomma]

Darn, we had one of those and I didn't even think to use it as a base for a coop.

We ended up using for an oversized dog house for some of our lab mixes.

I'll have to keep this in mind b/c there are quite a few that are listed on C.L for free.

Great idea! Can't wait to see pics of finished coop/run~

 

[GardeNerd]

I see these listed used on craigslist all the time. I have been hoping to see a few neat conversions to coops. I have seen a couple around BYC, but most folks leave them tall creating cleaning issues. I can't wait to see it all done since you cut it shorter. I hope you make a BYC page and enter it in one of the coop contests.

 

[teach1rusl]

Great idea!!! Keep the photos coming as you progress!

 

[meathook]

Built the nest boxes today. 6 chickens 2 boxes. They are 12 X 12. The opening is like 10 by 12 because of the panel on the front to hold things in. Chicks should be here tomorrow. Then the clock starts ticking to get this thing done.

 

[chaoschicken]

It's looking good.

 

[edselpdx]

That's exactly how I built mine! I kept thinking about the coop last spring, and then I was taking photos of the tween's playstructure to post it on CL when I realized I had a structure right in my yard. The only things I actually bought for my coop and run were hardware cloth, welded wire fencing, and fasteners (zipties and screws.) The rest was dumpster-dived or sitting around in my "that could be useful someday" pile. I even used the 4 x 4's from the swing side of the play structure as my fenceposts for the run.

My ramp is about 40 degrees down from the chicken door which is about 4 feet off the ground, but the girls don't actually use it--I think because of the spacing of the slats. They hop out the door to the top of the ramp and fly down, and then flap back up when they go in. The height is good because it makes people access for cleaning waaaay easier.

One hint that worked well for me was that I hinged a whole wall of the coop structure to be able to get in and rake it out at a good waist-high work height for me. My run is tall enough for me to stand up in to rake and access the feed and water.

I keep meaning to take and post some pictures, but it's not finished (and I suspect will never be completely done.)

 

[Schroeder]

Are they going to have access to the underneath part? If so you don't need the shade of the ramp. In that case, since they tend to jump and fly up to the coop anyway, just set a couple of tree stumps or blocks in the run for them to play on which also will shorten the height of their jump. Maybe I misunderstand you plan.