Moving from Farm to Suburbs with Chickens

[ChickenJoeRanch]

Hello! We have 6 chickens, assorted breeds, and 2 Indian Runner Ducks.

The problem is, we are moving from a house with acreage to a house in the suburbs.

Here is our plan:

1. Give our two ducks to our old horse boarder (we are friends and they will take great care of them!)
2. Rip up & relocate hen house (already have plan set up)
*Meanwhile, the chickens will stay in a stall during the night... They have done it before and grew up in one so they should be fine.
3. Disassemble Coop... How and do we need it? (I will go over this later)
4. Set up new "free-range" plan (they will use half our lawn, a large square plot with plenty of room and privacy
5. Transport chickens (HOW?!)

So, we live in Washington, where some hawks and eagles live. Other animals aren't an issue because we have a fully enclosed yard with private fence. Sorry if I'm rambling, but we are debating if we bring the coop (which is as tall as the large coop and spans around two sides, making it 2x bigger. The only reason we would do this is for the birds of prey, but are wondering if that is a problem in our area... Have been accustomed to birds of prey constantly flying around an in many cases, stealing our chickens!

Also, does anyone have experience disassembling a coop (cage enclosure)? It's held in by support beams underground. Problem is removing the chicken wire without destroying, removing supports and frame, and bringing it all over to be reassembled (possibly differently) or stored (depending on previous paragraph). Come to think of it we do have access to a big pickup with a long bed and tall canopy!

Another small issue is transporting. Back of a pickup truck in a net is out of the picture. They're family, not poultry! I guess we could use a pickup with a canopy in safe cages going 5 mph! The main route is only 5 mins but includes many hills, noises, etc. This can be avoided with an alternate route that includes a smooth dirt road and only one long upward hill. Also meaning we an go slower!

We've also heard that if you put them in your car, your chickens go crazy being seperated from half their group for even a half an hour.

How do you suggest going about this?
-Transportation (Chickens & Enclosure)
-Enclosure (Protection from birds of prey)

Thank you we will take any advice or opinions!

 

[aart]

Put the chickens in a dog crate all together, they'll be fine in the capped truck bed.
I moved 10 chooks all in one large crate 35 miles in the back of my van, they hunkered down and rode just fine.

If coop was screwed together, you might be able to disassemble it...kind of a try it and see type of a thing.

Good Luck!

 

[ChickenJoeRanch]

Thank you aart. That is probably the best way to do it. Thing is, the chicken wire is attacked by staples, and A LOT of them! I guess we could try using a stapler remover haha! Also, the chicken coop is put in the ground with support beams that have got to be 5-7 feet in the ground. How do I go about removing them? Or can I?

 

[donrae]

As far as transporting, if you use something like a cardboard box, where it's dark inside, they'll settle right down and kind of go to sleep. Depending on the size of the box you'll only need one or two--you'll just need someplace to put them once you get to the new place!

I'm not good at visualization, so can't help you much with the coop part. I can say we've never had luck being able to take down chicken wire and re-use it for anything of any size, it's just too flimsy. You may need to just write the wire off.

Maybe if you post pics of your coop, so we can suggest how to transport it? I'm much better with pictures than written descriptions.

And just to say---your fenced yard will probably keep out the neighbor's dog, but it won't even slow down a raccoon.

 

[aart]

Thank you aart. That is probably the best way to do it. Thing is, the chicken wire is attacked by staples, and A LOT of them! I guess we could try using a stapler remover haha! Also, the chicken coop is put in the ground with support beams that have got to be 5-7 feet in the ground. How do I go about removing them? Or can I?

They're probably 2-3 feet in the ground, that's standard, but if they're cemented in-forgetaboutit!
Probably best to cut them off at the ground with a sawzall, you'll have to sink new posts at the new site to attach the coop to.

Agrees with trying to reuse chicken wire, it's not predator proof anyway, and that pics would help a great deal.
I'm confused as to whether there's already a coop at the new location.

 

[ChickenJoeRanch]

Thank you guys so much for all of the tips and advice. I think I'm a lot closer to being comfortable with the whole move. If any of you are wondering, here are a few pictures of our coop, along with our ducks and their daytime enclosure. We are thinking about putting an auto chicken door where there currently is one and a manual one under the laying boxes (reason for the picture). This will come in handy because they're let out daily in the coop, but we only let them out when we're around.

 

[ChickenJoeRanch]

And here is the yard of our new house. The square area is going to be closed off from the rest of the lawn (which continues behind the camera) and we may be removing the tree... Depends on our layout. Gate goes to driveway, so we're going to have to find a plan for the chickens so they don't escappee... According to Home Depot and their typical fence panel lengths, the area is 32 x 40 and our hen house is 24 x 9 (without the caging). Uh-oh...

 

[donrae]

Are you planning on moving that entire red building? It can be done, but it's quite the endeavor. We've moved large-ish buildings like that but I never like doing it--I'm so nervous the entire time.

My honey just used hi-lift jacks, like 6 of them--one at each corner, one in the middle of each long side. Lots of 4x4s as bracing. Jack the structure high enough to back a flatbed trailer under it--CAREFULLY-- and lower jacks. Reverse at new site. Not sure it would be feasible to get it into your new yard that way, you may need to look as disassembling instead.

I'd pull the wire from the run and disassemble the lumber, scrap the wire and start with new once you're at your new place.

 

[ChickenCurt]

If you know anyone with a low trailer (tilt deck preferred) then move the whole coop after cutting posts off. The run could be cut into panels leaving some chicken wire as flaps to wire/hog clip later. Providing I understood pictures correctly.
As for moving birds I'll soon discover what's best when I relocate in near future. If traveling any kind of long distance be sure they have access to water. Sorry to hear you're giving up the space; I must say we seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum as I am looking for more land. Best to you and yours in your endeavor.