This Adorable Hen House Is The Perfect DIY Upcycle

While many people enjoy farm fresh eggs, not everyone has the benefit of owning their own chickens.

But for those who do — like this woman who is obsessed with raising chickens — the expenses can really add up. Fortunately, one clever DIYer figured out how to combine her love of chickens with her love of upcycling to make something truly unique.

I found this project on BackyardChickens.com from user Hen_House_Rocks. She wanted to start raising her own hens years ago but wasn’t able to scrape together the money for coop materials. Instead, she used a bit of imagination and some recycled materials to make a completely unique and cost-efficient DIY hen house for her backyard!

Scroll through below to see just how she easily she was able to transform her children’s old playhouse into a one-of-a-kind coop for her hens.

What do you think of this creative playhouse upcycle? Let us know in the comments!

This brilliant DIYer wanted to start raising chickens years ago, but didn’t have money to spend on materials, and had to put the project to the side.

She writes, “I was hanging up laundry in the backyard when I noticed the abandoned Playskool house that my kids had gotten as a hand-me-down from some family friends, then never played with. The wheels started turning.”

She dragged the playhouse into the driveway and cleaned it out with a hose and some bleach.

She then covered the windows with hardware cloth and attached a nestbox her husband built that would open from the outside.

Because she lives in a cold area, she knew she would need to cover the windows with plastic in the winter to keep her hens warm.

To add some ventilation to the coop, she found a tin vent cover to secure into the plastic house. The best part? It was only $3!

With her backyard being so small, this DIYer realized she needed to add vertical space to the coop for her chickens to have more room. Using scrap pieces of wood leftover from when her husband built their deck, she built a base for the coop, raising the playhouse up.

She covered the sides with hardware cloth, and painted the wood white. She caulked around the bottom with clear silicone to keep the inside dry during snow or rain.

She then started on the run, where the hens could hang out in the fresh air.

To build it, she used 2x4s from her dad’s attic. First, she had to pull nails out of the nearly 50 year old wood. With the help of her husband, she built the frame and the door, adding plastic roofing sheets that slant backwards to keep rain and snow from getting inside.

She writes, “I also added a couple of roosts at different heights in the run using old tree branches. The girls love them! They even choose to sleep in the run on the coldest of nights.”

The final product is both impressive and adorable!