I recently moved to an island off the coast of Washington state from south Georgia. I will be building a chicken coop soon but have questions about safeguarding against predators. The island is heavily populated in fox and raccoon, and we also have the threat of hawks and eagles. I would love for my chickens to free-range, but I am scared they will get picked off. I wouldn't mind building an attached run with a wire top but I also want my coop to be mobile. I will only have 3 or 4 hens with 1 rooster so it will not be a big coop. Any advice/ideas on a design for mobility and safety?
What I would do in your situation is build a nice, stout, secure stationary coop, with perhaps a "just in case" attached stationary run. Then I'd build a day tractor. That way you have the best of both worlds. p.s. oops, forgot to add, welcome to the forum!
I like elmo's idea! We live in the Northwest also and have seen hawks and raccoons around. We are building a stationary coop/run for starters and then a tractor so the chickens can "free range" when we aren't available to directly supervise.