Mobile Chicken Coop Plans

[Drk_Wlf]

My family owns about 14 acres. We plan on getting 50 Freedom Rangers this spring, plus we plan on having around 50 layers. We want to have 2 movable coops (one for the meaties and one for the egg hens) to house our chickens so we can move them around our land so one area doesn’t get over saturated with chicken poop. I have seen lots of picture, but very few actual building plans online, for egg mobiles. Does anyone have any building plans for these types of coops?

I live in upstate NY so the coops would have to be closed up in the winter. I have seen lots of egg mobiles that are mostly screened in and only used in the summer. I would need one that would be good year round, at least for the egg layer, I don’t plan on having meat birds in the winter.

I have a book with animal housing plans that has a good portable brooder on skids, but nothing for a large amount of adult chickens. Has anyone else built one of these large mobile chicken coops, and if so can you give me some advice? Thank You.

 

[Judy]

50 layers is 200 sq ft or, say, 20' x 10'. I don't know much about heavy equipment, but I do know that would be too much for my Honda Accord to pull, if a solid walled coop were included. In my mind it's doable, maybe with a hoop design, for the meaties, but not the layers. Also, 4 sq ft per bird is awfully skimpy if they will be stuck in the coop for days on end in the winter.

 

[Drk_Wlf]

Quote:
I was thinking of maybe puting a collapsible overhang on it to provided shade in the summer and keep snow off the ground in the winter. I have noticed with my chickens now, that no matter how cold it is, if there isn't any snow on the ground they will come outside. And when it is warmer they don't seem to mind trecking through snow. We have trucks and tractors, and we plan on building it on an old trailer so moving it shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks for your thoughts, I hadn't thought of a hoop design for the meaties.

 

[Stacykins]

I too am personally planning on building a mobile chicken coop that is mounted on an old boat trailer. The trailer itself was cheap, but then again, it is a fixer upper (gotta weld on a new hitch, repack the wheel bearings, and fix the wiring on the lights). I went with a trailer because I have an SUV, but not a tractor, 4 wheeler, or other vehicle of that sort to move a chicken tractor. The run itself will be semi permanent. I wish I had plans to share, I haven't begun construction yet because of the bitter cold, even though I have everything I need.