I've had fox trouble and cant let my birds free range anymore. Long time reader, first time poster. When my pregnant wife was guarding the birds in the backyard from a fox with a shotgun I knew it was time to build a new coop. Anyway, we are building a house and I wanted it to come with us, so I made it 10' long, just under 5' wide and 6 feet high so I can fit it on my trailer. Also, under the door on the run-end I but a large eye bolt so I can lift it with my atv winch or tractor bucket and move it/roll it. Thanks for reading. -Mike (youngoilguy) the old coop was a catabawa coop; with my long lost Thomas in the background;;;;;
Your coop is beautiful! Nice work! It is difficult for me to see in the picture...looks like you have chicken wire along the bottom of your coop. IF you don't also have welded wire lining that then it is not raccoon or dog proof. The best is 1/2 inch hardware cloth, since it keeps out rats and weasels which kill chickens. Raccoons can tear through the chicken wire with their "hands" as if it isn't there...just FYI. You can also apron out the hardware cloth along the bottom to prevent diggers from digging under (google hardware cloth apron). This will not be buried so you are still portable. If you are not intending the run to be predator proof (only the coop- then you are good to go). I don't have a predator proof run myself but lock them up in the coop at night.
Nice job!! I have a big shed as a coop as well as a smaller one, the second one you have shown. I use it for my ducks right now until I introduce them into the coop.
I sure would like to see how you lift it and move it. Can you take some pics of the run end and maybe one or two with it hooked up. Mine looks like it is going to weight about the same as ours and I was afraid I was going to have a hard time moving it. I see that you have yours wheels actually behind the end face of the tractor, I put mine just inside the end hoping that would give me more leverage when lifting the run end. I used brackets I found in the electrical dept of Home Depot, they are made for large conduit hangers and are really inexpensive, heavy duty and zinc coated so they won't rust. Here is what mine looks like, if you look at it in the gallery blown up you can see the brackets better.
Quote:Placing the wheels near center of the coop will make lifting easier but that will cause the rear to drag if you move it too far forward. I have seen pictures of movable coops with handles on it similar to a wheel barrow. That will give you some leverage and keep you from having to bend over to move it.
