Moselle's Chicken Coop Tractor

Our Flock-of-Sillies

 Little Margaret (Del), Emily (BO), Rythe (Austr), Fluffy the Elusive (EE), Rhoda (RIR), Mary (RIR), and Sweetie "BoBo Chicken" (BR).

Building the coop...

Here's the frame 5'Wx8'Dx5'H.  The section with the henhouse is actually 6" taller to allow for a sloping roof.

The 2x4s were routed at their joining points to fit together (like lincoln logs.)

They used a jigsaw to cut windows and doors into the sides.  The attached wheels to the base, and

everything is being painted with white barn paint.

More sides added, (we used 1/2" plywood).  Windows are covered with 1/2" hardware cloth ("wire mesh").

The drop-down door is hinged onto the bottom frame.  We ended up adding some 1x3s to keep the plywood from bowing. 

The door doesn't quite drop down so it's flat against the back here.  If the overall coop were 6" higher, it would drop down better.

Roof is plywood with a 2" under frame.  Topped with tar paper and shingles.  It's hinged on

this side, but fairly heavy to lift.  The frame around the chicken door is for a guillotine-

style door.  1/2" hardware cloth goes around the run with a 12" skirt.  Our staple gun didn't work,

so dh attached the hardware cloth with 2x4s and some extra strips of 1/2" wood hammered

into the frame.

Dh picked out that nice blue color.  The egg door opens to two (vertical) nestboxes.

The left door is split which allows for throwing in treats, quick water changes, and general

"howdy-do" hanging out.  The ramp to the henhouse is a bit too steep, so we put it on a 5

gallon bucket for the time being. One change I would make is to build the run about a foot

taller.  Right now we taller humans have to stoop a bit inside.

The little air vents (one on each side) will allow for extra ventilation in the hot summers

here but keep out the wind.  You can see that the coop has been secured like Fort Knox in anticipation of

overly curious neighbor kids.  The 2 nestboxes are stacked vertically and have a safety cone on top to

 keep the chickens from perching up there.  (Note on cone: the chickens thought it was great for snuggling

with at night.  We ended up making a sloping roof for the nestboxes and the cone now sits on the

waterer.)

Here are the plexiglass windows we made for stormy or cold weather.  The frames are made from

wood trim turned backwards to allow the plexiglass to slide in and out.  A hole is punched in

each piece so they can hang on a hook while not in use. 

While I would advise anyone to build a coop of this size on-site, moving it 100 yards into place

makes for some great free entertainment for the neighbors!