doing a coop from a boat trailer..so can take flock to other home if wanted to overnight or few days

[enola]

After reading this thread, I am eye balling all of the trailers I see when I am driving........

 

[ChickenSaloon]

Wow cool idea! Very clever

 

[BBQJOE]

I would totally do this so I could take my chickens just to keep an eye on them when I went to walmart or the grocery.
Or maybe on a trip to Baja or something.

 

[ladyearth]

BBQUE Joe.. what a smarta**, LOL You must be a riot to live with.....
yeah I told him it looks top heavy......
Hubby moved it while ago to where he wants to park it. didnt work on it much today. Cause he had prev redid the fence area and made that area smaller. But we did not end up doing an addition to the older coop... So it took 4 of us (paid helpers too) all day to redo....
So I wanted the spoiled Babies to have that extra 6 feet or so by 16 feet back.... In the meantime the 2' hex poultry wire ROOF and top side got a layer of 1 inch Poultry wire over it...
He did remove the Pet Smart old pet door from front of our old used storm door and will prob make that for the chicken door.with modifications...
where he has it parked is to the right of the original run not inside the run. So the chicken door will prob be on the side. The trailer tongue and People door faces the back of property
so a chute will be needed....
where I would like it placed is hard to manuver to...
a woodshed would have to be dragged to a new spot. We have so much slope on this property. Most of the flat areas are already in use.A pain in the butt.
Need to paint the people door it looks tacky... forgot to take pics again today.It was way dark when finally got chickens in and stuff put away...
I was a hoping it would have been ready but so many other things come up

 

[ladyearth]

here's today pics before the chicken door was installed .well finished up... a pet door redone
. still need to do roosts and close up those tiny holes,well put screen into anyway, about1/2 wide places
install more of those windows.


Mill finish corrugated aluminum roof, 2nd panel is white fiberglass heavyweight.......Like the old fiberlass awnings and patio covers. .....More light thru roof that way. could havent gotten a "clearer" panel but would have had to wait longer..These are NOT the less expensive wimpy "tufftex" panels.... like sold at Lowe's etc
Coil stock aluminum sides ..."clay" colored. comes in rolls 24 inches wide by 50 feet in a box....

First coop to the left...vinyl sided with an aluminum truck topper for roof....The two awning is a CL find too.. left over from house
.My fav windows crank out there.. used but serviceable....need to put hdwe cloth inside of windows so when nice outside..... screens can be used and windows opened... Slight tint to windows so far. the bigger 48 inch ones are clear

Least fav windows slide type but at least tempered glass....new windows never used before.
Roof looks green but its not.... its mill finished.. aluminum "'colored"


Also before old doggie door install finished, corner trim piece temp removed

Need to make chute to get to yard there on the left side ... be nice to have a "clear look "chute." Level the trailer tomorrow hopefully......
bought some concrete blocks today to do so

 

[hayley3]

That's amazing! I wish I could borrow your builder for a week!

 

[paintedChix]

The build is BEAUTIFUL!! Can't wait to see how you do nesting boxes, roosts and feed/water set up.

But - ??s:

1 - how do you tow it? That is a really short hitch/tongue length and really wide building on the trailer. I have a 16' stock trailer that I didn't realize before I purchased it new - right off the production line - had a REALLY short (but longer than yours) hitch tongue. I tore out the front of the trailer just turning into the gas station off of a major high way when pulling it home!! The bumper of our 3/4 ton Ford 4x4 hits the trailer any time it's got more than a 45* turn. Had to pay to have that repaired (we couldn't straighten the steel front or redo the welding). Have primer on it, but haven't matched the paint yet. It's a "bear" to haul and get it into gas stations (I now go to Truck Stops - but even they have tight turns around their islands for regular gas. Before I hook it, I make sure gas tank is full - but that doesn't help for long hauls across the state or out of state). Backing is also troublesome. Sure can't "jack knife" it into tight spots like I can my other bumper pull trailers!!

2 - That looks really heavy on those "little" tires. Again, even for 15 miles, how do you tow it? A fiberglass boat doesn't weigh anything close to a wood building that size.

3 - Double check that hitch and make sure it will hold well. Add heavy duty tow chains and clips (not light weight snaps). I've "jerry-rigged" a Ford Courier truck bed into a "stock trailer" (actually had it built and it is registered, insured and plated). We did great until we loaded too much weight too far back behind the single axle and hit a bump. The hitch came off the ball, one chain snapped, the hook on the other stretched out of shape and came loose, the trailer went off the road & flipped over - doing damage to the county paved road and to private property. The car behind us backed off and no one was injured. BUT the ticket (standard "reckless driving"), property damage, vehicle (trailer tongue banged into the mini SUV both under the hitch/bumper and then above it before going off road) & trailer damage and resulting INSURANCE INCREASE were darned EXPENSIVE!! We hauled less than 7 miles - part of our regular trash run to the local dump - was only going 35 in a 55 zone when it came off. Had old furniture in the trailer that we couldn't burn or re-purpose at that time.

4 - Insulation really needed in your area? If not, I wouldn't add it. I'd think about removing more of the sides and using hardware cloth - lighten the load for hauling and also add mega ventilation. Then cover it with a door that can be added or a plywood sheet/siding that you remove for bad weather and/or winter or plexi glass or green house panels or cloth on a wooden frame.

 

[MeepBeep]

1 - how do you tow it?  That is a really short hitch/tongue length and really wide building on the trailer.

I agree, looks like you have a very, very limited turn radius with that short of a tongue...

Also back to load limits, if you can't make out the load limit of the axle itself (I suspect about 1500-2000lbs for a single boat trailer axle) then check the tire ratings for load, and make sure they are always properly inflated to the max psi...

I know it might sound like nit picking but many people overload small trailers and it becomes a real life road hazard, 1500-2000lbs sounds like a lot but it actually adds up real fast... I have a small trailer I use to move hay/straw and it's highly annoying to stay within the load capacity of the trailer, 20 small bales (not even two full layers) on the trailer and I'm maxed out at about 1500lbs...

 

[ladyearth]

DId yall look a the original picture of the boat trailer before anything done to it ? first pic...
Hubby had a pc of steel welded to it by a professional welder....
Yall cant see a pic of the trailer tongue in the newer pics. that is the back side of the trailer.
where the People door is the trailer tongue it long....
But prob should have bought a tandem axle. But Hubby insisted on making it tall enough for him in the center...
but right now we are trailer rich.... 4 trailers now at this house....
we had an enclosed aluminum trailer but sold it last year.. used it for the last part of our move....It would have been easier to have turned into a chicken house...
We have a big vehicle..

 

[MeepBeep]

DId yall look a the original picture of the boat trailer before anything done to it ?  first pic...

I did look at all the available pictures but none show the tongue length fully...

A five foot wide 'flat front' trailer should have the tongue a minimum of 42" from the front wall/deck, 48" or more would be more ideal and allow a better turn radius... If you have that amount of length then disregard...

And although not as big of concern, it appears from the pictures that the deck was extended forward to the end of the 'v' of the frame, this appears to put the axle further back than ideal and might cause excessive tongue load... Axle should ideally be located 60/40 (front/back) under the deck, this is not a huge concern but it can cause issues depending on the towing vehicle choice...

If one is curious as to where the 42" recommended tongue length is derived from the picture should explain it, the picture is also to scale...

Most full sized vehicles are about 80" wide, thus with a 42" tongue you in theory get a full 90° of turn/rotation... Now granted you will likely never use that much rotation when pulling the trailer (and some hitches might limit it as well) but it's very handy to have that much rotation when backing up the trailer to avoid potential damage to the vehicle or trailer and allow maximum maneuverability...