• Last updated 4/29/13 by trinkets94

Our last coop was a large walk-in frame with little house on stilts inside of it.  We needed something movable this time around, so I wanted to go with a tractor type design.  I decided to do run below with a nesting/roosting house up above.     The coop is accessible from the run via a ramp attached to a door flap in the bottom of the coop.  At night, I pull the ramp up with a wire and it closes the door, protecting from cold and predators.             There are two front doors, both open.  One doorway is covered with wire, so I can leave it open on... read more

• Last updated 11/14/12 by BitByChickenBug

    In late Spring of 2012 I found myself obsessing over chickens, and the hubby finally gave in when he saw the neighbors had a tractor that allowed them to range but be protected from predators. And so I began my quest. I researched and researched, reading everything I could find and finally ordered my first three chickens online. Then I got another locally. Then another and another..... and, I was Bit By the Chicken Bug!   My original tractor design would have housed 3-4 chickens. It was an ark style that had all the features I wanted to easy access to... read more

• Last updated 10/5/12 by Gargoyle

My five chooks have a nice large coop and secure run, but we like to take them to our overgrown vegetable garden so they can play around and gorge themselves on veggies and bugs. However, it's about 200 feet, and the young rooster gets worried if I carry them one or two at a time... so, I needed a little wagon.   For two weeks I haunted garage sales and craigslist for a little red wagon, to no avail, so I found four lawnmower wheels (7" diameter, $5.49 each) and built the rest from scrap materials. It took less than an hour and a half.   Here's the finished... read more

• Last updated 8/14/12 by BGeezie

    My quest for eggs began about 7 months ago when I received an email from Lowes featuring a small chicken coop plan. The price for the materials alone was over $500 and the coop would only hold 2-3 hens. I began to look on-line for more plans and discovered a mass of information and plans galore! I called my local city planning office and asked about having hens in the city limits. They were gracious and did a search (I guess no one had asked about this before) and returned my call to explain chickens weren’t currently allowed in the city limits. So I put the... read more

• Last updated 7/3/12 by MacGuyver

This is our hoop house for our pastured system.     I wanted to build a new coop for our chickens this year. Our original coop was a stationary coop and the birds free ranged over our property. That didn't work so well for us though because we have so many predators and I was sick of losing birds. I spent the winter reading and planning. After reading Pat Foreman's Day Range Poultry I decided that I wanted to build one of her little hoop houses and use poultry netting to limit the bird's range so they would be less vulnerable to predators.      These... read more

• Last updated 6/25/12 by MacGuyver

I acquired four bantams when I was originally going to get ONE bantam and keep her in the sunroom as a semi-house chicken. Housing had to be acquired. There were no plans involved, just me walking around the barn thinking "What the heck can I build a chicken house out of really fast so I can get the birds out of my sunroom? What was I THINKING anyway??"     I had some big shipping pallets left over from a previous project, and a bunch of hardware cloth. So, I covered two pallets with cloth, and decided to make an a frame.      Sorry there aren't more... read more

• Last updated 11/14/12 by Ch1ck3nN3rd5

  This is our first attempt at owning chickens, we live in a residential area and wanted to make sure we had everything we needed in our first attempt at a coop so that it was easy to clean, nice to look at, and able to be moved around. We have 6 Golden Comets and are looking forward to having fresh eggs this summer!   read more

• Last updated 6/7/12 by dsheaz

April 4, 2012:  I am building a Tractor Coop on top of an old trailer that is made from pipe.  I will post pictures and description as I go along.  I am modeling it after bigoakhunter's trailer coop found on the tractor coop page.  Here is a picture of what I am starting with.  I am cleaning it up and painting it, then I'll fasten some 4 x 4 treated post on it as a base to build on.  It will be 4' x 8' square, haven't decided on height yet.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.   My helpers!:   April 8, 2012:  Like a lot of other folks, my plans have... read more

• Last updated 2/19/12 by jespere

We started building the new coop! Its a 6x3 tractor with a slanted tin roof and coop with nesting boxes and a roost. So excited!! Here are the plans:      After cutting the major pieces and starting to notch all the lap joints... plus a close up of the notches.       This is a close up of the lap joint after being glued and attached. Notice the seamstress notations! *My addition* to his carpentry skills. :) Hard at work rasping and filing!          Things are starting to come together!!         Starting to... read more

• Last updated 12/29/11 by pasta514

Urban Coop - Small, Movable and Self contained (started as a coop, turned into a tractor) REVISED:  The coop described below has some modifications. Please consider both pages if you have questions. We live near San Francisco Bay in a very temperate climate; rarely freezing in winter.  The backyard is ~30x60feet and mostly lawn and plants.  In the past there have been racoons in the neighborhood although I am not aware of any now, but want to design something coon proof anyway.  Of course there are rats, squirrels, feral cats, crows and the occasional bird of... read more