Mobile chicken cage/brooder almost done

[STxChickenman]

I've been working hard getting this cage/brooder ready for chickens or brooding chicks so that I can get back to my chicken raising! I had some help starting on the chicken coop/run and we have most of the posts set but we ran into a snag that's going to keep me from finishing as soon as I hoped. But I will get it done! It's going to be a 31' x 15' chicken coop with a run all under one roof. The coop is planned on being 7' x 15' and the rest is the covered run.

Here is a picture of my "mobile" chicken coop/chick brooder....(I put wheels on it so I can honestly call it mobile....lol). All that I lack is the roof which I hope to get finished tomorrow.

 

[Pork Pie]

Nice job

 

[STxChickenman]

I read my post and guess that I may have mixed my two projects into one paragraph....oh well, poop happens, (I read that poop happens on the internet on Backyard Chickens so it has to be true ...grin).
The picture above is a cage for brooding and growing out young chickens and my chicken coop/run is outside and a totally separate project...but they will both contribute to me having chickens again.

 

[junebuggena]

Wire flooring isn't really great for chicken feet. It poses a risk for toe injuries and bumblefoot. Chicken poo also gets caught up on wire and cakes. It doesn't fall through easily. Just cover it with pieces of plywood and you'll be able to pull out the sections for quick and easy cleaning.

 

[STxChickenman]

Yes, that is a great idea...a good liner on the floor would be great. The wire is hard to see in the picture but it is 1" x 1/2" welded wire. I originally had the idea to build the cage for rabbits but I decided on raising chickens. I'll probably use something pliable that is easy to move in and out of the cage for cleaning. That will surely save my floor. Thanks for the tip!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Nice "mobile" idea!
junebuggena made a good point about the wire floor. Plywood's a great idea but heavy & I'd be worried about splinters although you can cover with a sheet of vinyl. Another idea is paneling, like they use to skin doors in the old days, no splinters and again you can use vinyl sheeting for easy cleaning or couple coats of paint. I wipe mine down with disinfectant between brooding, cleans easy. You may want to build up the sides about 6" that way you can use shaving for flooring, using the DLM to minimize cleaning. Just an idea....

 

[STxChickenman]

The shavings on the floor sounds like a winner. I'll have to think about how I will fix this up to do that. Great ideas!!

 

[STxChickenman]

Well...I liked the ideas so much I went straight into the garage and put something together that is going to work out fine. I had extra boards around and some shelving material that I will probably need to replace with a plastic of some sort later, but this will work for now. Thanks again for the ideas.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Skip the roof and put in in your big ole coop/run.....

Gary

 

[STxChickenman]

Skip the roof and put in in your big ole coop/run.....

Gary

It's too late...I already started on the roof and actually can have it finished within the next couple of hours. I want the cage to be something I can move around and use for multiple purposes, (i.e. brooding hens, a brooder for newly hatched chicks, house young chickens that just can't wait to make it to my dinner table, etc. For the brooder part I thought that if it gets really cold out I could the wheel the cage into the garage and keep the new chicks there under a heat light during the worst of cold weather conditions.