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This is my first chicken coop that I have built, and after looking at lots of coop designs here and all over the web, I came up with this design. Without an actual cut plan, or drawings most of it was in my head, and the final product would have been a little easier to build, but I think it turned out nice. It is a tractor design, and although easy to move, it is heavy, again better plans than just what was in my head would have solved that.


Finished Tractor Coop!
Here are the progress pictures I took during construction. It took a little longer than a week to build because I only worked on it during the afternoons and evenings since I had some extra time off from work.


The bottom frame is built on a 10' 2x4 and a 12' 2x4 on top for the handles. The actual inside is 9' leaving a foot to attach the wheels in the back. It is 2' tall between the horizontal beams.
The coop is 3' long and 4' wide. It is around 36" tall. Figuring out the angles for the gambrel roof stumped me for hours. Since you usually want the height to be half the length that would have put it at 2' (half of 4' wide). This was too short so eventually I figured out the correct angles to put on the miter saw to make it work.





Each nesting box is roughly 12"x12"x12" minus the slope of the roof and a couple inches I added on the sides just to give it a little extra room. The ladder leads up to the nesting boxes, and although you can't see it in the picture above, there are two roosting 2"x2" poles going across the entire coop.

I put a piano hinge on the roof for easy access to both sides for cleaning and to latch the door from the inside at night. I am a little worried about ventilation, I put the vent on the back and installed a ridge vent on the top of the roof, but in Eastern North Carolina it can get hot during the summer. I will be tracking the heat buildup with a thermometer installed inside and make any adjustments if it doesn't breath right.



Here is the rough finished coop before I painted and installed the roof and chicken wire. I added two caster wheels to the front to help in navigation but except for on the driveway they dont work very well in my sandy yard. The four tires in the back work great and with two people, moving it is a breeze.

Of course you cant have a barn on wheels unless it is painted red! The finished roof has two window sill locks and a handle to open it up. The first top section in the front has a hinged access to be able to feed and raise/lower the chicken ladder. I may add other access panels on the bottom sections if it would be more convenient to access the bottom of the coop.


Baby chicks are on the way! We are getting 6 hens, Barred Plymouth Rock, Buff Opington and White Plymouth Rock, 2 of each. Hopefully all goes well with our Backyard Chickens!
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