OK so I thought i would share my project here with all you kind chicken folk. (I am now 1 of you 
I began with a simple large pallet that comes from a local manufacturing plant in town. Im out of work and funds are low but I did have some old lake wharf boards that came from my work and I thought well they are 2 inches thick so that outa be good enough for my birds insulation.
Here is the original idea over beers in the shop while thinking how this is all going to work. This is actually as far as this idea went. I shoulda known better and just start swinging the hammer and drilling the screws and whallah! Nothing like the plan!
Living in Southern BC Canada we are lucky enough o be in the greenbelt and only experience little snow during the winter months. This 2 inch thick old growth cedar and fir should provide some decent insulation I hope
Here it is getting close to complete and I made the roof to open for cleaning.
Here on the right will be the nesting boxes, 5 boxes 9 birds. Iv seen so many built on the outside for the ease of egg gathering and I don't feel that design would be appropriate for these cold windy conditions so I opted to house it all in the mainframe mainly for the warmth of all in the coop.
This project originated from the idea of a chicken tractor. Then I read about a fellow whom called his an Ark and I thought I like the sound of that and besides I would need a set of wheels of a small car for this if it were to be a tractor so ark it was!
Even my 14 HP couldn't pull it so it was dad, a 7 yr old daughter and a 5 yr old boy and we learnt about egyption log rolling heavy objects into place One of the reasons I used this old heavy wood was due to the tremendous winds we have here at the bottom of the mountainside through the flats. We have had a few things run away in the large winds like anything not bolted down. This Ark isn't moving very easily.
Here is the Arks final resting place for this year. Next spring the ark and pen will be moved if I cannot get the free range thing going which is the goal except that we have a lot of predatory birds here. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons, coopers hawks and red tails, turkey vultures and more. Netting has been installed over the complete run.
Thanks for looking and any comments are welcome. Oh yea I might as well ask here at the end does anyone have some info on acclimating your watchdog to accommodate watching the chicken coop. My plan is to have the pooch stand guard over the flock but need to get everyone on the same page when it comes to free range. I think she is going to do just fine. Right now we are working on barking at overhead eagles when we see them. Right now I have the time so I work daily with the dog and the chicks. Im thinking of sitting in the run with dog by my side for a period of time. I also here my own dog may be my worst predator so I am aware of these facts but an article on such would be awesome. Thanks for looking at our coop and Im very happy to be apart of your community here on BYC
I began with a simple large pallet that comes from a local manufacturing plant in town. Im out of work and funds are low but I did have some old lake wharf boards that came from my work and I thought well they are 2 inches thick so that outa be good enough for my birds insulation. Here is the original idea over beers in the shop while thinking how this is all going to work. This is actually as far as this idea went. I shoulda known better and just start swinging the hammer and drilling the screws and whallah! Nothing like the plan!
Living in Southern BC Canada we are lucky enough o be in the greenbelt and only experience little snow during the winter months. This 2 inch thick old growth cedar and fir should provide some decent insulation I hope
Here it is getting close to complete and I made the roof to open for cleaning.
Here on the right will be the nesting boxes, 5 boxes 9 birds. Iv seen so many built on the outside for the ease of egg gathering and I don't feel that design would be appropriate for these cold windy conditions so I opted to house it all in the mainframe mainly for the warmth of all in the coop.
This project originated from the idea of a chicken tractor. Then I read about a fellow whom called his an Ark and I thought I like the sound of that and besides I would need a set of wheels of a small car for this if it were to be a tractor so ark it was!
Even my 14 HP couldn't pull it so it was dad, a 7 yr old daughter and a 5 yr old boy and we learnt about egyption log rolling heavy objects into place
One of the reasons I used this old heavy wood was due to the tremendous winds we have here at the bottom of the mountainside through the flats. We have had a few things run away in the large winds like anything not bolted down. This Ark isn't moving very easily.Here is the Arks final resting place for this year. Next spring the ark and pen will be moved if I cannot get the free range thing going which is the goal except that we have a lot of predatory birds here. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons, coopers hawks and red tails, turkey vultures and more. Netting has been installed over the complete run.
Thanks for looking and any comments are welcome. Oh yea I might as well ask here at the end does anyone have some info on acclimating your watchdog to accommodate watching the chicken coop. My plan is to have the pooch stand guard over the flock but need to get everyone on the same page when it comes to free range. I think she is going to do just fine. Right now we are working on barking at overhead eagles when we see them. Right now I have the time so I work daily with the dog and the chicks. Im thinking of sitting in the run with dog by my side for a period of time. I also here my own dog may be my worst predator so I am aware of these facts but an article on such would be awesome. Thanks for looking at our coop and Im very happy to be apart of your community here on BYC
