Westknollamy's Chicken Coop

Thanks for visiting my page! I have made a few tractors that I thought I would share. To see more about the "red contraption" search for "I am not a builder!"

I built this one for my Barnevelders.

The inside coop measures 3x6 and the bottom of the pen is 6x8. It has wheels under the coop part but is very heavy even for 2 people to move. It has a partial wire bottom.

 I have also made this cute little tractor for my white Araucanas. I have only 2 birds in this one right now but am about to add another hen. The inside coop is about 2x4 and the run part measures 4x6. I keep this going around my back yard. I love it! I have no trouble bending to get inside to close their door at night and can get to the eggs from the coop door outside. They have a roost inside and the thread is "Remember...I am not a builder."

I threw together a few pens real quick (I call them Quick Pens) when I needed space  for more chickens and for good isolation cages. It took only a few hours and I still need to paint them but this is the first one. I used poultry fencing to start with for a day cage but the others have hardware cloth and skirts on them and I leave the chickens in them all the time. They seem very happy since I move them every 2 days and they have fresh grass and dirt to dig in. As soon as I can get the photos here I will add several more tractors I have built recently.

 This is how they looked in the snow. The big one is the M*A*S*H unit DH built. It did very well in the snow since the entire inside was protected and the chickens had a blast without ever getting nasty. They snickered at the free rangers having to get wet and gross while they were still on fresh ground but without nasty feet and feathers. I liked it because their eggs stayed dryer in the nest boxes than my free ranging chickens and yet they still had all the benefits of free ranging.

You can see the thread on how DH built the M*A*S*H unit if you search for it. I may make a page for it but no one on here has been too interested though DH thinks it is genius. It is totally easy to break down if you ever have to and can be made larger by adding more frames and panels. Super easy to move once the wheels are on it even in rugged terrain. I prefer mine since I can build them quickly and move them by myself. Although the M*A*S*H unit has great purposes and we have one in the back pasture and are building another in the front pasture. That should look great in front of our house! LOL

The chickens did not mind being in my small Quick Pens during the snow or any rain but the wind bothers them. Our climate is not too bad and these are wonderful for extra breeding roos.

I'm finished with yet another one of a similar design of my Quick pens. A bit larger but unfortunately heavier. I may have to put wheels on this one as I can only turn it in a radius at the moment.  I have started a thread about this one and showed all the details of building it as well as my finished product. The thread is called "Another tractor story".

And this is what I have accomplished so far. I have the doors to put on top as I plan to have one on each end and I will be covering most of the top and the door at the back with the PVC roofing. I already see ways to improve on this design and hope to start another one after I help DH with his next M*A*S*H unit.

Here is the final product.

Here is another photo of his first M*A*S*H unit. Not the best photo but I will have to get back into his files for the original photos and upload those again. I'm not sure if you can see the wheels laying in front of it. We take those off each time. Easy to put on with 2 people but then I can move it by myself.

                                  Be sure to visit the  M*A*S*H  page for more of these tractors.