Cotton Trailer Coop - Please look!

[Mag16]

Thank you for the welcome. I've learned a lot from you guys - using DE, providing a sandbox, etc. I will post pictures of my sister's when she is finished.

Are you on some property where you can roll the wagon so the chickens can free range?

I have 37 acres and I wish I could let them free range but we have a bad coyote problem. In the past 2 weeks one neighbor has lost 4 of her sheep and another has lost all of her free-ranged chickens. Several times this week, during the day, I have caught them in my yard or heading that way. They almost got my jack russel a couple of days ago. My other problem is my border collie, Monroe. He is obsessed with the chickens.

Here he is stalking them:

We just take the axles off ours, flip them over, take the torch and cut a door, and voila, instant coop with a roof.

That was my original intention but we are under an extreme burn ban so no welding or torches. So I went with plan B. Plus I like being able to move it.

where did you get the cotton trailer?

I have been looking on CraigsList for awhile and found one in Holbert, OK. I called my sister and asked her how far Holbert was (my BIL sells a lot of his polled herefords in OK) and she tells me that she saw one the other day in someone's pasture about 10 miles from her house & 30 from mine. I paid $325 for it.

FYI if you buy one - I could not drive more than 15 mph pulling it and had to take the dirt roads because it really wasn't "street legal". It took me 4 hours to drive 30 miles. I'm glad that I didn't drive to Holbert as it would have taken me 2 days - lol!

Magnet Chick - my aunt lives in Enid.

Big C - my grandma lives in Quanah. I visited her last week with my mom. I was looking for trailers as I passed through Vernon and Chillicothe cause I'm thinking that I might want another one.​

 

[New adventure]

from Colorado.
I've never heard of a cotton trailer either, but that is an awesome coop!

 

[joebryant]

IF (I wish) I ever had a cotton trailer coop, there's no way that I would EVER take off the wheels/tires and turn it over. I'd consider cutting a hole in the floor and give them access to the area under it after putting on removable wire panels to keep them in. If I had a watch dog, his sleeping quarters would also be under it in his area. There's just so much that could be done with a ready-made cage set high on wheels.

 

[leitha2006]

Very cool!

 

[WestTexasFarmboy]

I've wanted to get a cotton trailer too, for a long time, to flip over for a run. I never thought of using it on the wheels as a coop, tho. Very clever. We have hundreds out here (south of Lubbock, TX) that I bet you could get for nearly free, no one uses them anymore.

Good job!

 

[alycoop]

Wow, now that's some chicken "tractor", lol.

Living out on West coast I didn't know about cotton trailers either. What a great way to recycle something that seems to be obsolete.

ETA that some enterprising person could start collecting and refurbishing them as giant chicken tractors. Wonder how much you could sell them for.

 

[Rach1966]

I love the idea, wish I had a cotton trailer now

 

[grannymac]

I love it! Now if you could just figure out a way to lower and raise it, slide back the floor...that would be a supersize tractor

 

[EweSheep]

Yep I used to live down South and they were used alot those days. I dont know why they stopped using them. Too exposed, I would guess.

Other than that, its an excellent idea! I love the moving part!

Is the floor wooded? It would be a good idea to have rubber mat down so you can scrap it off easily when you can not come and clean it out often.

I love the sandbox idea!

Now the hay wagon we have out here, we can make those to look like the cotton wagons.

 

[texaschickmama]

Okay, that is WAY cool!! You are pretty close to me, too!!!