Want to build the smaller Play-house coop, anyone done it?

[Rode Island Red 2008]

joe i will give you the spicific name for the play house coop the play house coop is just the brand name Send me a email on backyardchicken P.s. Chickens will never stop laying they will last 20 years

 

[Village Farm]

Quote:
No, not really. There's "the playhouse coop" for which you can buy plans from isthmushandyman. There are also "playhouse coops" made, literally, from playhouses or by adapting playhouse plans.

The idea behind isthmushandyman's coop plans is that it ends up looking sort of like a kids' playhouse so is less likely to attract the ire of anti-chicken neighbors. It incorporates a fully-covered run with a small "roost box" under a single roof so the whole thing forms one structure.

Cuteness or architectural stealth is often the idea behind converting a "real" playhouse to a coop, but another reason is that they make very nice coops with few modifications and can sometimes be bought for less than the materials to build your own would cost you. Although they don't look it on first glance, they're much larger than the 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep, 3 1/2 foot tall roost box of the isthmushandyman coop. They will usually require a run to be attached to or built around the coop.

I haven't had the bravery to go through our receipts to see how much our coop (modified from isthmushandyman's plans) cost. We used 2x3 lumber instead of ripping cedar deck boards, used corrugated plastic roofing instead of metal, changed the outside wall of the roost box so it swings down for thorough cleaning from outside the run, and made an external nest box on a side of the roost box. It took 3 weekends. I'm not much of a builder at all, but nobody lost any fingers. I'm certain we spent a few hundred bucks on materials. I also "needed" to buy a new jigsaw to cut out holes for the window and the nest box. We already had a circular saw and a drill/driver (and hammers, straightedges, levels, etc.)

 

[miron28]

Quote:
Freecycle is a site that is for things that are not for sale! They give away really great things! It is stuff that people can not use or do not want. In stead of throwing it out and it going to the dump it is recycled. I have gotten a almost new swing set and other great stuff

 

[cthrash1]

Have you guys seen the big wooden doghouse Lowes has...I just bought one and put it together...It has been marked down to 107.xx. The big drawback I found after putting it together was, if I was to keep it out in the weather (which I WAS going to) the peak would need more cover because if it rained it would leak. the piece that fits the very top is not made well and only tacked together and was falling apart when I got it out of the box...Well when I put it on the top of the peak it has about an 1/8th inch gap. So I put it under the leanto. Still need to make a wooden door for it and it will serve my purpose just fine.