Our sweet little chicks need a home! Instead of building a coop from scratch, we decided to put the kids old, unused swing set to good use and turn the playhouse into the chicken coop. This project took a few weekends to complete but WOW! We are so happy with how it turned out! Scroll down for all the before and after photos! Welcome home, ladies!
Here is a before photo of the swing set space. The first step was removing the swing set section from the playhouse. We then removed the slides and all the plastic windows from the playhouse.
Next, we cut off the bottom half of the playhouse and then cut down the posts to the height we wanted for the coop house.
Our playhouse and swing set was made all out of cedar which is why we thought it would make a great chicken coop. Cedar doesn’t rot like other types of woods and doesn’t hold moisture. After we cut down the top portion of the playhouse, it was time to reinforce the outer structure of the house. We used fresh cedar boards from our local Home Depot.
After the house was secure, inside and out, we got to work on building the structure for the chicken run. This attached to the side of the coop and also included a door for us to enter.
Next step was to paint the entire structure, inside and out! Of course I went with white. It looks so clean and crisp! Painting the coop and run too seals in the wood and any moisture and also helps with any ants, etc. It took a few gallons of paint and thanks to a paint sprayer, the painting was done in one afternoon.
We also attached a nesting box to the side of the coop. This is where the chicks will soon lay there eggs. It is recommended 1 nesting box per 2-3 chickens so we added 2 nesting boxes. There is access with a door that pulls down in the front for collecting the eggs.
Next it was time to add a roof! We went back and forth on adding cedar shakes or a metal roof. Hubby came across a roofing system that orginated in France and I quickly fell in love! We special ordered it through Home Depot and it’s called Onduline. They are corrugated roofing panels and not only did I absolutely love the look, they are quite weather resistant which is exactly what we wanted for the coop and run. It was a quick and easy install too!
One fun little aspect we added was wallpaper to the inside of the coop! We added it to the back wall where the roosting ladder went. It has proven to work so well! Such a quick and easy clean up! We also put down a plastic flooring so it can easily be cleaned as well! We went with hemp bedding in the coop house as it really retains any moisture. It is absorbsent and controls odor which I love!
Lastly we added hardware cloth to the entire run and any exposed sides/windows in the coop. We also ran it along the entire outside of the run floor a few feet out to protect the chicks from any predators trying to dig their way in!
We also did some landscaping which took a lot of time but was so worth it in the end! We used landscape rocks from Home Depot {about 50 bags!}, 120 pavers along the entire perimeter and dug some beds for plants and florals. We filled the run with contractors sand, add a Dutch door to the coop and a solar paneled light!
The chicks are loving their new home! We can’t wait for the spring when they are old enough to start laying eggs! Welcome home, sweet baby chicks!