New to BYC...bedazzled by the coop & tractor options

[PersimmonPatch]

Hello, I'm new to owning chickens and am completely taken aback by all of the wonderful styles of coops and tractors. I think we need something fairly quickly. so I'm thinking a tractor to begin with, then after the summer we can go for a coop. We hope to make a coop/shed combo. I'm excited to be part of this forum and learn from others so here goes...

Here's my wishlist:
1. easy to clean
2. houses 3-4 barred hens
3. somewhat lightweight
4. as almost always a concern, attractiveness (we're on a corner lot with a low wooden fence)
5. somewhat predator proof, there are foxes in our neighborhood and our sheep dog is just really getting too old to help much


My questions:
1. does moving a chicken around in a portable coop decrease their egg laying?
2. how often do they need to be moved? We have a wooded lot with sparse grass
3. is there someplace I can go to see "user ratings" on tractors/coops?

Thank you!
Michelle

 

[Judy]

!. no
2. up to you -- I think most move them maybe twice a week
3. not that I know of

 

[Chickenmaven]

Tell us about your area & its climate. That makes a BIG difference in your housing.

 

[Redsquirrel]

I have a tractor/ark coop. We have lots of grass to move it around on but as long they can scratch around not much grass wouldn't be a problem. My hens lay fine in the coop part of it. I move mine about every week but I let them out to free range in my yard. I would move it every few days if they stayed in there all the time. I think mine looks nice and works with my yard.

 

[PersimmonPatch]

Hi, I'm near the sc, ga, nc border. Hot, dry, wet, and sometimes snow!
I have my 2 chickens in a large wire rabbit cage with a temporary metal roof, the cage sits about 2 inches above ground and I have had to move them several times already as the poop is stinking and attracting flies. One hen got under our chain link fence the first day and hasn't come back. Foxes were spotted in our neighborhood. It's always a fiasco around here!

I like the A frame tractor/arks. I think I would need one with wheels as sometimes I may be the only one around to move it. We'll be getting a surplus of black locust shortly...anyone used that??