My new coop

[Gumbydarnit]

Hi,
I wanted to share my coop that I have been slowly working on for the last two months. It is inspired by the coop from the promise land farm and others like it.

It is 7x12 ft not including the nest boxes.
I got an old hay trailer from craigslist and plan to move it around 4 different pastures following horses and one day sheep or goats.

The siding and soffit was in the attic left over from our house. I wanted it to match the house since it will be in front of our house.

Front view. I have the cheeper keeper door so I will not have to worry about letting them in or out. Hopefully they will cooperate at night.

This side has a door I will use to maintain and clean it out.

Still have some work on the inside. The 4 in pipe will hold about 25 gallons of water and will have a few nipples inside and more ran along the outside. I painted the walls with gloss cabinet paint to make it easier to clean and protect the wood.

They will have a nice wood grain linoleum remnant only to be covered with shavings for the floor.

For ventilation I have a 12v bilge blower with a temp switch. I keep checking habitat for humanity for a temp/humidistat switch. There are two 5w led 12v lights one on a switch in case I need to check on things and one hooked to a timer so I can give them artificial light in the winter if I decide to. I have a 20w solar panel that I hope will keep the battery charged.

Soopa Coopa control panel. Still need to clean up the wires.

Hopefully this weekend I can finish the water system install roosts and get the linoleum in. I need to get the chickens moved in! They have taken over the office where I have there brooder. Luckily I didn't have my desk set up and it has a bare concrete floor!

Thanks for looking!

 

[proud-armywife]

I love your coop! I have coop envy! What a great design! Your chickens are very lucky!

 

[sunflour]

I answered a another of your threads today and didn't realize you are fairly new, and see you have not received a proper welcoming, so here it is:

so glad you have joined us.


Amazing coop thanks for sharing. You should consider starting your own member page to display the whole project.

 

[Gumbydarnit]

Thanks! And if I decide chickens are not for me it will be a nice playhouse for my son lol. But I am enjoying them so I don't think that will happen.

And thanks for the welcome. I will look into the member page. Probably once I get them moved out of the office and get them set up lol

 

[redsix]

Very nice. Are the chickens going to free range or are you going to build a portable fence around it? The land is pretty hilly around here. I'm afraid I might end up with a runaway chicken coop, if I built one on a wagon.

I have mine on skids.

 

[Gumbydarnit]

Redsix,
I am from Roanoke Va and can understand the hills. I miss them but have been in coastal Ga. for 15 years, love the winters but hate the summers. My land is flat as can be luckily.

I have about 6 acres that was hay fields that I am fencing in and dividing into 4 pastures with a 5th sacrificial field when it gets to wet for my wife's horses. The chicks will be able to free range across the entire fenced in area but I may use electric poultry fence to try and contain them where I want them so they scratch up all the horse/goat/sheep poop.
My plan is to have horses in one pasture. Move them to one that was empty for a bit. Move goats, sheep or a combo of them behind the horses, then move the chickens behind goats/sheep to eat weeds and disperse the poop piles so i don't have to drag the fields. Leaving a pasture to sit empty to be ready for horses.
Alot of this depends on the will of the chickens. I have a feeling I will just move the coop to the empty pasture and the chickens Will go where they want.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

Thanks for sharing pics of your coop too! I love that you can move it!

 

[redsix]

We have plenty of space and I would love to let my chickens free range. Especially right now, there are loads of grasshoppers. No one is home during the day, however, and I don't want to risk leaving the chickens alone. I have a 8 ft. by 16 ft pen that moves with my coop. We have been moving it weekly to keep the chickens supplied with grass. I'm in Wytheville.

 

[Gumbydarnit]

Wytheville is very nice! I miss the mountains. I used to work for the Curtis Mathis store in Roanoke and did a bunch of satellite installs for the store in Wytheville.

I hope they will be ok free ranging. The perimeter fence will be vmesh so that should help deter ground based predators. We just got a Great Pyrenees who should help with hawks and predators that make it thru the fence.

8x16 is pretty big for a movable run! Sounds like you take good care of them.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

That is a wonderfully luxurious coop!

Great job!!