Please ! need all the help: converting a child’s house bed into a chicken coop.

[Clucking confused]

Hi all! We are just beginning and I found this child’s house bed used and thought this would be great for the chicken coop ! These are the dimensions: 78.5 × 46.5 x 74. We are looking to house 6 chickens in it. I’m thinking nesting boxes on the left or back and a run attached to the right. Other than that please give me all your suggestions, how do I insulate this (we’re in New England with cold winters) should we just replace the roof with a metal ? Front two opening we will make windows and then some sort of door. What would you do ? Any little or big suggestion is super helpful. We know absolutely nothing yet. Thanks so much in advance y’all.

 

[Slothinc]

Hi all! We are just beginning and I found this child’s house bed used and thought this would be great for the chicken coop ! These are the dimensions: 78.5 × 46.5 x 74. We are looking to house 6 chickens in it. I’m thinking nesting boxes on the left or back and a run attached to the right. Other than that please give me all your suggestions, how do I insulate this (we’re in New England with cold winters) should we just replace the roof with a metal ? Front two opening we will make windows and then some sort of door. What would you do ? Any little or big suggestion is super helpful. We know absolutely nothing yet. Thanks so much in advance y’all.

Omg can I ask how much it was?? I built that exact bed a long time ago. Lol I couldn’t bear to sell it when we moved so my sister has it now. Oh the blood sweat and tears that went into that thing

Yeah I would suggest boarding off the sides and back since they are completely open. You’ll also have to figure out what to do with the bottom because it’s all slats. The roof will need reinforcement. Screwing metal panels on would work, you will need short screws because those top boards are thin. A door will have to be added to the front and the windows will need to be screened with hardware cloth, and you may want other ventilation on it.

The one I made was a beast and very hard to move around. It honestly might be easier to start from scratch, or to start with a kids playhouse, but if you got a great deal on this, then it may be worth doing the renovations. There will be kind of a lot involved though!!

 

[Clucking confused]

They’re asking $400 but we don’t think we will go over $300. It’s actually coming dis-assembled. Perhaps that will be easier ? Or should we just start from scratch ? Again it looked like a great base, but I don’t know what I’m doing. Thanks !

 

[redinator]

They’re asking $400 but we don’t think we will go over $300. It’s actually coming dis-assembled. Perhaps that will be easier ? Or should we just start from scratch ? Again it looked like a great base, but I don’t know what I’m doing. Thanks !

For $300 you could a chicken mansion from scratch.

 

[Clucking confused]

For $300 you could a chicken mansion from scratch.

Most of the other plans we saw the materials were at least $700 … if you want to share some ideas for a $300 chicken coop I am allllll ears

 

[redinator]

Most of the other plans we saw the materials were at least $700 … if you want to share some ideas for a $300 chicken coop I am allllll ears

Are you getting adult birds or chicks?

 

[Clucking confused]

Chicks

 

[Slothinc]

$300 is a decent price for the bed for sure, however, everything that you will have to add will add at least $100 if not way way more. This is a well built piece of furniture, make no mistake. However, the floor, roof, 3 sides, and the door will have to be redone/have additional materials put on. Also a nest box and roost will need to be added.

That being said, this is a decent base. But if I was doing a coop from scratch I would do things differently. I say this having built this exact bed and a big coop

I personally would try to find a used shed or maybe even children’s playhouse or something. However the bed house is insanely adorable!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Off the top of my head, other than the addition of a real roof and maybe some ventilation up high (or given that the roof has open slats maybe build the real roof over top of that with a gap to allow it to ventilate upwards), assuming it's solid wood you'd probably want to repaint to better handle outdoor conditions.

 

[redinator]

Chicks

Okay, maybe not under $300, but I've been able to break down the build steps so each step allows me a few weeks to build the next phase.

I'm new to chickens myself and have had crash course in chicken math in the past few weeks. You will be surprised by both how much and how little space young chicks need. I bought a brooder that said is was good for 15 chicks . . .it failed to mention they would outgrow it within a week . . . and I only have 5.

My 5, 3 week old chicks are still indoors in this run/pen https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00859JJPA?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2 it's still too cold for them at night to be outside (or maybe I just don't want them to grow up yet ). It's plenty of room with feeder, waterer, roosts and brood light (I'll get pictures in the morning, they're sleeping now).

I was about to go all out and get them a large raised coop and enclosure, but realized they are still too small to reach the roost bars and such, so I decided to add a transition phase . . .

As the weather warms up I'm getting a second of those pens and attaching it to this dog house https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OLYD62?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1 so I can transition them outdoors, but I'll still have a pen inside in case the weather turns nasty before they're fully feathered.

So far we're at $230, but I've been able to pay this amount over several weeks, $70 for the first pen, then $160 of the second pen and dog house. This makes things more manageable for my finances rather than trying to do everything at once.

Once they're fully feathered in another 3 weeks or so, I plan to get something like this coop:
https://www.amazon.com/Aivituvin-Ex...804293&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-26&ts_id=4619367011

enclosed in something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/HITTITE-Chicken-Outdoor-Waterproof-Anti-UV/dp/B0C99CFCMB/ref=sr_1_7?c=ts&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YWr6wLPkMAIuVYWddj-z9ie9fqgQORBOAUsXzTmPgGwFc0emoRqMPW_zDGAH4O-pvovY276X7x-VNgUkqQU4bmmx0a-THGTJsHDmSrwJEDntcKLEeTHf7yM0glAgYrVmM1Pi0TwO47v8WnLzibWhyfVI26VBY8FRTLZ00Rey1Estt8K4XxO3aDzb_fwr1EVUQ6UA1OapfuBNvWJmJfkL4Zbq28UWJxnGQ-8p63VolVHHv8PrTCAoTjnKfe7rrT6Ik10zjXP2Tuv30vf5rEFM-F0QxC9Xrt0BULlNPy4aiphSV2V0b28QjGsL4_DW9D0Nh5HC_peTKbViS7O7HHxZ8qeMOxLfqw0jf9DyVUI6ZtA._o8EMrbxqOit_Ld3ekF6XCcGKnHOkB0E4MMBcIlV0Ws&dib_tag=se&keywords=Poultry+Habitat+Supplies&qid=1740804369&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-7&ts_id=4619367011&th=1.

If you're free ranging you can skip the enclosure. Also if you do get an enclosure be sure to cover it in hardware cloth. I almost ordered one that only had bird netting, which MIGHT keep the chickens in, but won't keep predators out.

This plan may not work for your situation, but it's made things more financially manageable for me and my family.

I forgot to mention, I plan to keep both pens and the attached dog house in case I need to quarantine new chickens, or a spot to put a sick or injured bird to heal.