Good morning!
We built the Catawba ConvertiCoop for our four Easter Eggers with the same notion that you have - moving the coop every day to allow them to forage.
The coop is pretty easy to build but very heavy to move. You'll need 2 people to move it unless you put wheels on it as we had to do. Even with the wheels, it's heavy to move.
We got our girls at the end of August 2008 and because of being so heavy, we were only able to move them from one spot to another in the backyard. The four girls did well all summer but as winter approached we began to get worried about the cold. We are in a part of Canada where the winters are quite mild but even so, we quickly realized that the Catawba ConvertiCoop would not provide them with much protection.
We created a run/pen out under the lean-to behind our shed, butted the coop to that then covered the coop with rigid construction-grade styrofoam insulation panels. The girls spend the winter in this pen/run/coop combo area and do just fine.
When spring came, we decided to build them a hoop coop from PVC conduit and chicken wire. This was their summer home and they loved it! The idea of the hoop coop was that we would move the coop every couple of days to give the girls new areas to forage. We thought that by moving the coop every day or so, we could still keep the grass nice. Well, that didn't happen.
Our yard is small and it didn't take long for us to have bare patches that were quickly overtaken by crab grass. That wasn't a big deal to us as that part of the yard is never used (we did put in a vegetable garden one year in that area though) but we were a little surprised that happened because we thought moving the coop would keep the grass nice.
While I don't regret building the Catawba ConvertiCoop, if I could have a do-over, I would start with a permanent coop and designate an area of the yard for a run. I would also make the coop big enough for about 20 birds because now that I have chickens, I want more and really (with the modifications we've made to the coop), can only safely keep 2 more.
For us the Catawba ConvertiCoop was a good "easy-try" way to get into keeping chickens. Keeping chickens was something we wanted to do but being city folk were not sure how and slightly intimidated of the commitment. This is our second winter with the girls and we're hooked. I'd really like to get a rooster and raise some chicks but I can't because I don't have a coop big enough.
They say that hindsight is 20/20 and had I known how much I would be into this, I would have put a bit more thought into it and planned for something bigger. Now, I'm looking toward spring and thinking of ways I can cannibalize the lumber in my Catawba ConvertiCoop to make something bigger and more winter ready.
Just my 2 cents,
Barbara
We built the Catawba ConvertiCoop for our four Easter Eggers with the same notion that you have - moving the coop every day to allow them to forage.
The coop is pretty easy to build but very heavy to move. You'll need 2 people to move it unless you put wheels on it as we had to do. Even with the wheels, it's heavy to move.
We got our girls at the end of August 2008 and because of being so heavy, we were only able to move them from one spot to another in the backyard. The four girls did well all summer but as winter approached we began to get worried about the cold. We are in a part of Canada where the winters are quite mild but even so, we quickly realized that the Catawba ConvertiCoop would not provide them with much protection.
We created a run/pen out under the lean-to behind our shed, butted the coop to that then covered the coop with rigid construction-grade styrofoam insulation panels. The girls spend the winter in this pen/run/coop combo area and do just fine.
When spring came, we decided to build them a hoop coop from PVC conduit and chicken wire. This was their summer home and they loved it! The idea of the hoop coop was that we would move the coop every couple of days to give the girls new areas to forage. We thought that by moving the coop every day or so, we could still keep the grass nice. Well, that didn't happen.
Our yard is small and it didn't take long for us to have bare patches that were quickly overtaken by crab grass. That wasn't a big deal to us as that part of the yard is never used (we did put in a vegetable garden one year in that area though) but we were a little surprised that happened because we thought moving the coop would keep the grass nice.
While I don't regret building the Catawba ConvertiCoop, if I could have a do-over, I would start with a permanent coop and designate an area of the yard for a run. I would also make the coop big enough for about 20 birds because now that I have chickens, I want more and really (with the modifications we've made to the coop), can only safely keep 2 more.
For us the Catawba ConvertiCoop was a good "easy-try" way to get into keeping chickens. Keeping chickens was something we wanted to do but being city folk were not sure how and slightly intimidated of the commitment. This is our second winter with the girls and we're hooked. I'd really like to get a rooster and raise some chicks but I can't because I don't have a coop big enough.
They say that hindsight is 20/20 and had I known how much I would be into this, I would have put a bit more thought into it and planned for something bigger. Now, I'm looking toward spring and thinking of ways I can cannibalize the lumber in my Catawba ConvertiCoop to make something bigger and more winter ready.
Just my 2 cents,
Barbara
