Building materials just keep going up in price, so building a playhouse that is convertible or can be repurposed is a great way to extend the longevity of your building project. Converting your children’s playhouse after they have outgrown that period in their life to a good-looking chicken coop gives you years more use for your cost of building materials and DIY project time.

Repurposing your children’s playhouse also makes good ecological sense, we believe if something can be used again, don’t throw it out to end up in the landfill. If you build your children’s playhouse with repurposing in mind to a chicken coop later this process is even easier. You would build the playhouse with awning windows instead of vertical or horizontal windows, this way the windows don’t need to be removed from the playhouse to convert it to a chicken coop.

The Playhouse to Chicken Coop Conversion Process

Most children’s playhouses can be converted into a chicken coop pretty easily. Also, most playhouses are at least 6 feet x 8 feet and will convert to a chicken coop that would house between 12 to 15 laying hens. You don’t need to have that many hens, but that is the capacity of most children’s playhouses when converted to chicken coops. Built with this idea or not, the process of converting a playhouse to a chicken coop is a pretty easy project.

Chickens are easy to take care of and produce a lot of eggs. Eggs at what they cost today if you have a growing family can be a chunk of money each week at the grocery store, especially for organic brown eggs without antibiotics. So, planning before you start converting your children’s playhouse to a chicken coop is a good task with what your chickens will need and the components of your new chicken coop.

Chicken Coop Functions:

• Security form predators
• Protection from weather and a stable indoor temperature
• Clean water access
• Food access that can’t be contaminated
• A place to sleep or roost at night
• A convenient place for your hens to lay eggs and for you to gather them each morning

Chicken Coop Parts:

• Starting with a playhouse you probably have the beginnings of a predator-poof henhouse
• A feeder for their food that is automatic
• Water source
• A place for your hens can roost
• Simple nesting boxes
• Feed storage that is accessible from outside
• Outdoor protected chicken run
• Windows for light and ventilation-awning windows are great
• Doors-tiny for your hens and a larger door for your access

Converting a Playhouse to a Chicken Coop

Let’s start with door access for you and your chickens. Your children’s front door to their playhouse is usually not adult height and is a great place to start with your conversion.

1. The previous front door to the playhouse will become the chicken’s opening to the chicken run. You need to remove the front door from the playhouse and install a slatted wood walkway down to the ground level for your hens to access their outdoor run.
2. Most playhouses have at least two windows for ventilation, we are going to keep one of them for a new chicken coop window. Hopefully, you have awning windows installed in your children’s playhouse, if not this is the time to uninstall all playhouse windows and install one awning window for ventilation.
3. If your playhouse has more than side windows, but also back and front windows, you will be converting the back window into an adult-size entrance to the chicken coop. The front windows can be taken out and you may install awning windows for light and ventilation.
4. The second window when removed and will start to provide access to the laying boxes. you will need to cut into your framing and remove the framing for the window to extend the access to the side of your chicken coop to be at least 6 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall.
5. After cutting the access area on the side of the coop and framing it for strength, you will install a piece of T-1-11 or suitable outdoor wood no thicker than a half-inch. You will cut your board so it covers the access area and allows enough leeway to cover it completely and install hinges on top with hooks to hold the door open and a clasp at the bottom of the door to make sure it is predator-proof from the outside.
6. You can easily create a nesting boxes area by framing a platform inside your chicken coop in alignment with your outside access door the length of your chicken coop and about 2 feet wide. You should allow enough room for at least 4 laying boxes.
7. Laying boxes can be as simple as plastic bins, such as Rubbermaid plastic tubs filled with straw and easily cleaned out on a regular basis.
8. You may repurpose an old wooden ladder for a roost for your hens inside the chicken coop, just cut it to size to run the length of the chicken coop on the opposite side as the laying box area.
9. Now it’s time to install your adult-size access door on the back of the coop for cleaning and storing purposes. You can buy a pre-hung door with just needing to cut the door area and frame to install the access door.
10. If your children’s playhouse had a loft your can repurpose it for storing chicken food, otherwise, you will want to create an area inside the back adult-size access door that is predator-proof and keeps the chickens away from the grain for storage.
11. A good way to supply water is with an old-fashioned gravity-fed poultry waterer or there are now reasonably priced automatic water feeders that are simple to install to keep a continuous supply of freshwater for your chickens. If you live in an area that freezes in the winter the gravity-fed waterer may be easier than protecting the hose that feeds the automatic watering system.
12. Galvanized hanging feeders that are automatic stay the cleanest, but if you want a low-tech version a plastic hanging feeder works well. Hanging feeders are best for chickens because they can’t poop in their food and their watering system if tipped over doesn’t get their food wet.
13. The next chore is laying straw on the floor of the chicken coop which you can recycle into compost if you use rice straw instead of conventional hay.
14. You want to build your outdoor chicken run. Using field fencing is best for the fencing part, stretched tight and using ground anchors to firmly attach the field fence to the ground so predators are kept away.
15. Using chicken wire stretched tight over the top of your chicken run enclosure keeps both flying and climbing predators out of your chicken coop.

We would love to see your finished playhouse to chicken coop conversion photos. You can count on Shed Windows and More for doors, windows, cupolas, and more for your playhouse to chicken coop conversion.

The post Playhouse to Chicken Coop Conversions Made Easy first appeared on Door.

Lets find out what is the best chicken coop design for your flock and situation. There are many different choices in chicken coop design to choose from; mobile chicken coops, stationary chicken coops, and semi-portable chicken coops that marry the best of both types of chicken coops. Below we discuss the merits of each type of design so you can choose what fits your needs and flocks needs best.

Stationary Chicken Coops

Stationary chicken coops are meant to be stationary, permanent and not moved. Stationary coops can be converted backyard sheds or you may build your own stationary chicken coop from scratch. Stationary coops generally have a solid floor made or wood, concrete, or blocks.

Stationary coops usually have a chicken run attached to the chicken coop to give the chickens a yard for access to the ground and the outdoors. We suggest that the chicken run also has a chicken wire roof, to make it more predator proof and that the chicken yard is also wired in 1/4″ chicken wire mesh to keep varmints out and your flock safe.

Stationary coops are the safest, but are the most costly and time consuming to build. Also with a permanent coop you are looking at slopping out your chicken coop to get to that wonderful chicken manure. If chicken manure is not a priority for your garden many stationary coops with concrete floors can be built at a bit of a slope with a drain at one end to carry out the chicken feces when you spray down the interior floor.

Using pine shavings and allowing the chicken poop to accumulate on the bedding allows for decomposition to happen right on the floor of the chicken coop; keeping smells to a minimum and you have nearly instant compost this way. Just use a pitch fork or flat shovel to scoop out and use the compost on your garden.

When thinking predators and sturdiness, stationary coops tend to pull the lead. A stationary coop should be built well above grade or water table to avoid flooding during heavy rains. We suggest with a stationary chicken coop that you make it so you have multiple choices on attaching a run, so at least the chicken run can be moved. Moving the chicken run is important since the chickens tend to get the yard down to bare dirt making for more parasite problems, and finally vegetation won’t grown. So, rotating your chicken run is best for the health of your flock and gives you access to the chicken manure in the yard at intervals.

Semi-Portable Chicken Coops

A semi-portable chicken coop gives you the best of two worlds in many ways in chicken coop design. Semi-mobile coops can be moved but usually they are designed to be in a one location for weeks and months at a time. Shed style coops with wheels can be moved by a tractor or pickup truck. One of the advantages of a semi-portable coop is easy access to the chicken manure. No need with a semi-portable coop to slop out the chicken coop and also a great way to give your garden the nutrients it needs to produce great fruits and vegetables for your family.

Portable Chicken Coop Design

Having had both stationary and semi-portable chicken coops I tend to lean toward the semi-portable design and portable chicken coop design for under 6 hens. It’s wonderful when your are finished with your vegetable garden for the season to move your portable coop to the vegetable garden and let the chickens clean up the last of the crop while leaving their droppings to nourish the next season’s soil. As you expand your chicken flock you can always use the portable version for the smaller chickens once they graduate from a safe, warm, indoor location to keep them seperate from the larger hens.

Portable coops are great but they can be a bit of a design challenge when it comes to predators, wet weather, and high winds. For the predator problem we suggest checking your coop daily to make sure  there hasn’t been any intrusion of predators. Also having a wire mesh floor can help keep predators at bay and it also gives more stability to your portable chicken coop design.

As to high winds we suggest using curved rebar or heavy duty ground stakes to keep your portable chicken coop strong and stationary. Also for any rain challenges if you distribute 3-6 inches of straw or hay inside your portable chicken coop it gives your hens a dry place to stand till the rains subside.

For all your chicken coop building needs look to Shed Windows and More for chicken coop windows, and hardware for your chicken coop. Many of the photos you see in our blog today are designs that our happy customers have built to house their laying hens. Be sure to send us photos of your finished DIY projects.

The post Your Best Chicken Coop Choice first appeared on Door.

Starting with well made windows is a must for having a weather tight chicken coop. Our customers have sent us photos over the years of their chicken coop designs and they are come in every size and look. All of our backyard famers agree that good planning helps a chicken coop design turn out great. For your best selection in chicken coop windows count on Shed Windows and More.
There are some simple questions to ask yourself before you start gathering together materials and ordering your supplies:

What Are Your Goals?

• How many chickens do you plan to keep?
• How many eggs does your family consume a week?
• How much space do you have?
• Do you want your chickens to run freely or be only caged
• What is the purpose of having your chickens; 4-H project, family eggs, small farm business, etc.?

Designing Your Chicken Coop

With some planning your chicken coop whether a backyard chicken coop or a small family farm chicken coop can come together effortlessly:

1. Height-Two to three feet off the ground makes your coop more predator proof, too close to the ground and your chicken coop can easily be accessed by rodents.
2. Insulation-Chickens are hardy animals and can withstand temperatures down to 30 degrees, if your climate gets temperatures below 30 or over 90 degrees consider insulating your coop well to keep your chickens in good health. Heat lamps are a small investment and can raise the temperature and help with production since chickens like around 12-14 hours of sunlight a day for optimal laying conditions.
3. Ventilation-Because chickens eliminate in their coop it is important to have proper ventilation covered with chicken wire. Making your coop moveable by installing wheels allows you to harvest the chicken manure easily.
4. Food & Water-Make it easy and automatic, so you are only needing to fill the feed weekly and freshen the water a couple of times a week. Some of our customers put in automatic watering systems and feed leveling systems making the food and watering of their chickens very simple.
5. Perches-You need enough perch space so your chickens can perch without touching each other.
6. Litter-Litter is needed inside the coop floor below the screening and in the laying boxes to keep the eggs warm. Using rice straw which has no seeds makes for excellent litter since it doesn’t produce seed in your compost.
7. Nesting Boxes-Your chicken’s nesting box can be as simple as a plastic or rubberized box; easy to clean, simple to fill with nesting materials.
8. Ramp-With an elevated coop your chickens will need a way to go from their coop to the chicken yard; a simple plank with horizontal slats placed a one foot intervals makes for good traction and makes it easy for your chickens to exit to their fenced yard.
9. Fencing-Provide predator proof fencing for your chickens; either wrapping the edges and using landscape clothes pegs to keep in place or some other means for predator proofing your chicken yard.
10. Location-Positioning your chicken coop so it has some shade during the day, but the early morning sun shines on your coop makes for the best laying conditions. A great idea is putting wheels on a smaller coop so you can position it for maximum sunlight and also harvest the chicken manure for compost.

Taking the time for planning your chicken coop can save you both time and money in the long run. Also a well thought out chicken coop makes for happy hens and better egg production. View our chicken coop windows for the best selection of sizes and colors for your chicken coop design.

The post Top Chicken Coop Planning Tips first appeared on Door.