Playful Chicken Coop with a Seriously Strong Design

At last, the Cuka family was finally was ready for a backyard flock of chickens.  The fenced backyard of their new home had plenty of shade, and two eager kids were now old enough to help out with the chores. Their four baby chicks were already ordered, and the only thing left was to choose the right coop design. Naturally, it had to keep their hens safe from predators, and comfortable in harsh weather. But this coop also needed to complement the family’s upscale home and neighborhood, and with it’s elegant metal roof and red cedar trim, the Playhouse Coop design checked all the boxes, and won them over. 

Armed with loads of style and traffic-stopping curb appeal, this fun chicken coop design will extract a smile from even the stodgiest neighbors. You can select from twenty metal roof panel colors, and even more exterior stain color choices, and make your playhouse coop one of a kind. But don’t let playful touches like the window and flower box fool you, this is one rock-solid chicken coop. 

The Playhouse Coop’s rough-sawn, red cedar frame components are joined using a clever combination of exterior screws, gussets, and waterproof wood glue. The result is a robust frame that can easily withstand punishing wind, snow, and ice loads, as well as relentless testing by all kinds of hungry wildlife. 

And like our other chicken coop designs, we wrap the Playhouse Coop frame with 1/2” galvanized hardware cloth, instead of poultry netting (i.e chicken wire )  which has larger hexagonal openings. This stout, steel mesh has smaller,  1/2”x1/2” squares, which makes the coop more secure from predators. We extend the hardware cloth across the entire floor of the coop, completely protecting it from digging predators, like raccoons. 

The Playhouse Coop is large enough for up to five chickens, but makes a roomier home for three or four hens. And if you’re looking for an attractive, robust coop design that enhances an upscale setting, the Playhouse Coop is sure to please. But before choosing your coop, consider that is is one of the smaller walk-in chicken coop designs, and with the floor covered entirely with hardware cloth, your hens will be eager to come of their coop every morning to scratch around the yard, forage, and take dust baths. If your schedule or location would make it difficult or impossible to let your hens out for a little while every day, or almost every day, consider a larger coop design like the Garden Coop or Garden Loft. These two coop designs have hardware cloth buried around the entire outer perimeter instead of across the floor, allowing the hens to dust bathe inside the coop, and scratch around for grain.