Thank you chicken farmers and neighbors for sharing your knowledge and experience. I know lessons learned from one's own mistakes are not easily forgotten, but I'd rather avoid as many as possible. If you will permit me to impose...
The wheels for my "Chicken Wheelbarrow" arrived this week. I "won" them on
Ebay--a pair of solid rubber 12" rigid casters. Figured to start from the ground up. I plan to attach these to a 4' 2x10 (or 2x12) with lag bolts. The final placement of the wheel assembly across the bottom of a 4' square coop will depend where the fulcrum ends up. The outside 2x4s of the coop foundation will extend to form the run and the handles of this big wheelbarrow; the top of these would be right at 20' high. I haven't yet determined the length--12' would leave less than 8' for a run (but I could get by with one 25' roll of 36" hardware cloth), and 16' may be too long, not allowing the front of the run clear the ground when handle is raised. A shorter/wider run seems to make sense...doesn't it? From a physics perspective? Duh. I may leave a higher area near the coop, say the first 3', to allow for a chicken door and ramp. And I do like the idea of the three panels I've seen on some Quaker styles...that get dropped and locked after moving. Any insights? Obvious stupid ideas or mistakes?
Thanks for the wire advice. Does it matter whether the hardware cloth is installed on the inside of the treated lumber forming the frame of the run (for street appeal), as opposed to the outside (to deter gnawing by pesky critters)? And would it make sense to design this thing so all ground-contact boards can be replaced relatively easily?
The slide-out floor panel for ease of coop cleaning seems like a good idea. I'd think this could also serve as a winter floor--if the summer floor was hardware cloth (this also seems like a good idea). However, a thick 4'x4' panel of plywood would make for a solid coop foundation. What about a one piece plywood floor that "frames" the floor of the coop, say 6" wide around the floor perimeter? The 3'x3' middle could be wire, and a panel slide in for the winter. Or is all this ridiculous, as the way to go is the "deep litter" route?
One last thing about nesting boxes, and I like the ones that protrude out the side...or the end in my case, the end, as I'm trying to put most of the weight at the "far" end. Should they be up off the floor of the coop? I've seen designs both ways, but read they feel safer up off the floor.
Again, any insights, criticisms, or random thoughts...even off-the-wall thoughts, would be appreciated.
TommyBee, aspiring chicken rancher.
