A twist on the portable coop idea...

[JohnandJacquelineW]

We built this a few weeks ago, but this is my first time posting on this forum (only just found it yesterday). We are pretty new to raising chickens and have been learning a lot. This was a big weekend project for the two of us. The chickens seem to really like it and my only regret is that I keep reading that the nest boxes should be lower than we put them. It is working though because our two hens that are laying age have been laying in the nest boxes to that isn't too big of a problem. I plan later to put in more in the back at a lower level later on, but for now this is doing the job. We also plan to scale up with more chickens down the road, so I may extend the roof and add more roosting areas.

These chickens free range through the day.

Edit: Pictures weren't working, had to fix the code.

 

[Stacykins]

I can't see the pictures for some reason, but can read their descriptions. Sounds like you have a trailer mounted on a coop! I decided to make a coop that was both road legal and easy to move. So it has working lights and is the proper size to get hitched up to a vehicle. Not that it will be going on anymore road trips, its just that it was built in a different location than it lives now, so instead of putting it on a flatbed, it became a trailer so I can move it around the yard.

 

[JohnandJacquelineW]

Quote:
Haha, nice

Can you see my pictures now? I changed the code a little bit. (forgot to put the "http://" in the image links)


Ours isn't street legal, though we've joked about that. It should be fine if we want to move it around in the field though, which was a big part of the reason for putting it on the trailer. (and the trailer was old and out of use so we figured we might as well do something with it)

 

[TheJuan-n-Only]

I can see them.....do you have a pic of the inside? would be cool to see it

 

[OneEyedChickenGuy]

This is great, I could use something like this to take my chickens with me on vacation. JK, lol.

 

[perchie.girl]

Outstanding.....

Are those Cattle panels for the sides? What a great use of materials. What kind of a floor did you put in. Like TheJuan-n-Only said inside pix would be great.

 

[JohnandJacquelineW]

The inside is pretty basic, but here are some pictures. As for the floor, we basically wrapped the whole trailer in chicken wire. But underneath that to make the floor a little sturdier where there aren't boards, we added some left over fencing that we had which is a thicker wire and has holes that are about 2x4 I think (or maybe the size of a 2x4 so slightly smaller than a literal 2x4... not sure). Towards the back, under the roof, we laid down a piece of plywood. I read today on these forums that people recommend painting the floor to keep the wood from absorbing the poop and also to make it easier to clean. I hadn't thought of that, just figured we'd bring a hose in there which has worked so far, but sounds like it might be a good idea to paint one morning while they're out free-ranging or something...

Then we added a couple of 2x10s to make a little walkway.

I've also seen it recommended that the nest be about 1 1/2 feet off the ground, I think... ours are closer to 4 1/2. We put in some little perches for them to jump up there easily (kind of look like diving boards but I haven't seen any swan dives yet). The two that are old enough to lay are faithfully using the nest boxes at their current height, and I actually kind of like it because you don't have to bend down to get the eggs!

And a just a couple of 2x4s that are actually structural support too but function well as roosting - they also enjoy roosting on the trusses where there is room for it.

And then of course, just outside the coop is their faithful protector from predators! ....Actually that is part of our goal. We are hoping if we raise him from a puppy with the chickens right there and teach him to play nice with them that he will eventually be able to help look out for them. Plus he is really cute

 

[JohnandJacquelineW]

perchie.girl :

Outstanding.....

Are those Cattle panels for the sides? What a great use of materials. What kind of a floor did you put in. Like TheJuan-n-Only said inside pix would be great.

Almost forgot to answer that - yes it is cattle panels. The trailer has been through a few transformations actually. It started out as a camper trailer from I think '57 or so. Then sometime down the road it got turned into a utility trailer. And probably about a decade ago it got modified so we could haul goats around in it. It hasn't been used for goats for a while now and we figured we might as well put it to use for something!​

 

[gertiie]

that is an adorable pic with that pups head buried in his food dish ha ha ha

 

[JohnandJacquelineW]

Quote:
Hehe, thanks - that is Ringold. When we picked him up at the shelter they told us he was about 7-8 weeks old, but today we found out his actual birthday which puts him at about 6 1/2 weeks now... closer to 5 weeks at the time of that picture...


He seems to be getting along well with the chickens so far.



I had a question though. I've noticed that sometimes our younger (3 month approx) chickens have a hard time figuring out how to get up on the roost and one actually seems to have a hard time getting down... The two older ones haven't had much problem once they figure it out.

Should we do anything to help them or just not worry about it? They ultimately do get up and down but they seem pretty worried while they're trying to figure it all out.