Building a coop as I go.

[Iceegg]

My cousin and I our building a Chicken tractor with no real plans. We had some ideas and we just started working on it. We finished the hen house and soon will be working on the run. We have a few things to add to the hen house but for now it will work better then the large brooder in the house. Tonight was the first night in the hen house for our chickens.
The chickens looking over their new chicken tractor.

My son checking out the chicken tractor. The roosts are made of 2x4's and are removable in order to gain more access to coop. In the background you can see the frame work for adding 3 nesting boxes.

This is a side view of the chicken tractor. Under the hen house we will hang the food and water. In this picture you can see the access doors hadn't been stained yet.

 

[Dogfish]

Excellent job!

 

[Chicken Jack]

Great job; keep the pictures coming.

 

[jimnjay]

Very Nice, Keep it simple is the best way.

 

[joebryant]

You're off to a good start; however...
Put your roost 2x4's higher and both on the same level. Put a removable poop catch board or plastic tray under the roosts.
The roosts must be higher than the nest boxes.
You need windows for air circulation during the summer. Heat kills chickens; they can take the cold.
You need lots of ventilation at the very top. Warm, moist air has to be removed during the winter. Be sure that you have NO drafts; they'll kill your chickens too.

 

[MareeZoCool]

A most excellent job you've done! I admire your models demonstrating the roosts and showing their approval.

 

[Ozarkquilter46]

Wowzers!! thats wonderful!!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Very nice start!

Does the roof have a slope to it? One way I have dealt with not having a slope on some of my tractors roofs was to always move them to where they do slope from the ground having the slope. Really a pain when you have to move about 12 like that and actually think about rain coming and the need to move them all once again when they don't need it because there is still good grass and ground.

Definitely think about ventilation. I prefer mine as open as possible even in winter but it depends on your winters. They can't take wind but they do fine in cold and heat will certainly kill them on a summer night.

Can't wait to see the finished project!

 

[Iceegg]

You're off to a good start; however...
Put your roost 2x4's higher and both on the same level. Put a removable poop catch board or plastic tray under the roosts.
The roosts must be higher than the nest boxes.
You need windows for air circulation during the summer. Heat kills chickens; they can take the cold.
You need lots of ventilation at the very top. Warm, moist air has to be removed during the winter. Be sure that you have NO drafts; they'll kill your chickens too.

Thanks for looking at the coop. The first roost bar is really a step for them to get to the next one. I only have 18" above the last roost bar so didn't want to go higher otherwise they may not have much head room. The top is where I will be cutting vent holes so wasn't sure if I wanted the roost high enough that they might be in a draft area. We are planning on putting a window in also. The roof does have a slope but not much of one. This is only a summer coop that we will use from April to September since we live in Duluth an it gets really cold here. In the winter we will have a shed that has power and heat to keep them warm in our crazy winters. I'm looking into trays for under the roost but I also have a rubber matt on the floor so all I have to do is pull the whole matt out and dump it and put right back on the floor. The wood floor is also bolted to the studs so I can take them out and get a real good clean in the hen house every few months and also when I clean it for storage for the winter months. Thanks again for looking and for your comments.​

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Thanks for looking at the coop. The first roost bar is really a step for them to get to the next one. I only have 18" above the last roost bar so didn't want to go higher otherwise they may not have much head room. The top is where I will be cutting vent holes so wasn't sure if I wanted the roost high enough that they might be in a draft area. We are planning on putting a window in also. The roof does have a slope but not much of one. This is only a summer coop that we will use from April to September since we live in Duluth an it gets really cold here. In the winter we will have a shed that has power and heat to keep them warm in our crazy winters. I'm looking into trays for under the roost but I also have a rubber matt on the floor so all I have to do is pull the whole matt out and dump it and put right back on the floor. The wood floor is also bolted to the studs so I can take them out and get a real good clean in the hen house every few months and also when I clean it for storage for the winter months. Thanks again for looking and for your comments.

Sounds like you know whatcher doin', summer and winter both. Can't wait to see the finished coop; it all sounds fantastic.