Movable Run

I like your idea for you flower bed. Chicken are a great way to take an overgrown area and reduce it to dirt without taking any nutrients from the soil. All that's left to do is a little leaving and you are ready to plant.

Where do your chickens spend the night now? If they have a place to roost that is protected from small paws that would like to reach in at night, I don't see why they couldn't stay in the run. If you are going to make movable predator guards, I would use heavier fencing. Hardware cloth doesn't hold up as well when it is being walked on a lot. Any thing that is 17 gauge or bigger will work better for you. I use 12.5 gauge 2"x4" for mine. Anything small enough to fit through 2" is not much of a digger. Some rodent could dig under over time, but if you are always moving around that will never become a problem. Skirts have worked from many people on this forum. A fox will come to the edge of the run and that is where it will try and dig. If it can't dig there then it will move around the perimeter of the run looking for a place to dig under, it make no sense to them to move away from the run to dig. As for cats, once your chickens are bigger they won't be much of a threat, besides they have a great looking guardian watch over them. Does she stay with them at night?
I lock them in the coop at night now, and let them out in the a.m. There is a 2" x 3" in the top of the run that goes across width wise. It's there favorite hang out.


No real way for anything to get to them there. I would use the 2"x4" fence for the skirt and the hardware cloth I was thinking would only be for the sides to replace the chicken wire. Although my sister-in-laws' Pitbull was testing the strength ot the chicken wire last week and it held up pretty well.
My dog spends some nights with the birds some without. It's up to her. She hangs out most of the day with them. Like I said, she really likes having the company. It's funny seeing the birds picking up on her barks. If its a friendly bark they run to the one side of the run to see who it is, and if it's an alert bark they fly up on the roost out of site.

This time of year there are easier sources of food around for foxes and the like, but I'm thinking as winter approaches the animals will take more risks.
 
I am absolutely smitten with your tractor wheel arrangements. I've been building this big tractor to tow behind a mini-van-coop and haven't been able to figure out what kind of wheels to use and how to avoid having a big gap under the bottom of the tractor. What you have devised would be perfect for me. Would you be so kind as to give detailed information on what kind of wheels you purchased (or repurposed) and a step-by-step or diagram of how you attached them so that they could lever into place when you move the tractor and fold out of the way when you want the tractor to sit. LOVE IT!
I wish I could take the credit for this design, it really worked out well. Simple is better!
I found the information on this site. Below is a link and diagram with more detail.
http://avianaquamiser.com/posts/Wheel_lift_for_a_chicken_tractor/
20110605chickentractorwheellift.jpg


I searched for wheels to repurpose for a while and couldnt find anything that looked like it would hold up. So I ended up going to Harbor Frieght for these. Can't beat it for under $15.
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-knobby-tire-43612.html

The rest of the material, Two 1/2" nuts, bolts and washers, for the pivot which ties the lever to the run, and two 5/8" nuts bolts and washers for the wheel axels, and 2"x 10", I had laying around the garage.
I even found a set of spacers to use as stop blocks. You could even use wood blocks for this. Just needs to stop the lever from flipping completly over.
 
I have been thinking about making a dolly to put under the one end so now you could drag or push it where ever it needed to go with even less effort.
 
Thank you for sharing this information. I'll be copying the design of the wheels for myself. I thought I had the general idea from looking at your photos, but the diagram will make duplication so much easier.
 
I lock them in the coop at night now, and let them out in the a.m. There is a 2" x 3" in the top of the run that goes across width wise. It's there favorite hang out.


No real way for anything to get to them there. I would use the 2"x4" fence for the skirt and the hardware cloth I was thinking would only be for the sides to replace the chicken wire. Although my sister-in-laws' Pitbull was testing the strength ot the chicken wire last week and it held up pretty well.
My dog spends some nights with the birds some without. It's up to her. She hangs out most of the day with them. Like I said, she really likes having the company. It's funny seeing the birds picking up on her barks. If its a friendly bark they run to the one side of the run to see who it is, and if it's an alert bark they fly up on the roost out of site.


This time of year there are easier sources of food around for foxes and the like, but I'm thinking as winter approaches the animals will take more risks.
When I first set my chickens out in early spring last year, raccoons would crawl all over it at night. By winter, since they weren't getting calorie intake at the run, they rarely came around. You would see there tracks, but mostly they were just passing through. If they can't get in, they will spend thier resources on something else and most of the time that will be catching rodents, which is a good thing.
 
I left the birds in the run with coop door open last night, and had the dog roaming the yard just in case. She gave a few warning barks but thats it. So the plan at this point is to lay that fence on the ground at the base of the run and let them decide wheather to stay in the run or the coop.
 
Thank you for sharing this information. I'll be copying the design of the wheels for myself. I thought I had the general idea from looking at your photos, but the diagram will make duplication so much easier.
Great! Post some pics when it's complete.In the pic above you can get a feel for where the pivot bolt goes in relation to the bottom of the run.
Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
I know this thread is really old, but I just wanted to say, GREAT IDEA! I might do something like this. I have two roosters who don't get along, so I want to give my youngest rooster his own ladies and coop.
 
I'll take some pics of the run and coop as it is today. It's held up very well, and easy to move around.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom