Hurray, it's done! (Well, just need to put the wheels on, but I'd call it 98% there.) I'm a first-time chicken owner with 6 BR chicks that are a week old. All are fine, growing like weeds and acting goofy, ha ha!
My idea was to have a portable chicken coop/tractor that I could move around my yard. We have 15 acres, 4 of which is cleared. I wanted to be able to move it either by myself or with help, and so far, so good. About half of the wood I was able to salvage from work at no cost; the rest, like sheets of plywood, we bought.
Plans are from Mother Earth News "mini coop" but I'm also a first-time builder and let's just say I learned a lot.
I did keep track of everything so I could put together a bill of materials if anyone's interested, plus I have more pictures at various stages of building. I'm very open to comments and feedback since this is all new to me.
Thanks for this forum - it's a *wealth* of information! --Jan
First pic was before side walls were installed. Chicken enclosure is on the left, chicken run on the grass is on the right. Both ends of the ark open up with hinged triangle doors. Whole thing sits solid on the ground and is either enclosed or has 1/2" hardware cloth to protect from predators. I also built a couple of nest boxes (not shown) from leftover scraps.
Second pic is same thing with side walls installed and door closed.
P.S. My plan is to end up with three hens (I think 6 is too many to stuff in there) but right now I have a straight run and no clue as to how many boys and girls. I was also advised to buy more chicks since you typically lose one or two along the way, so we'll see how it all works out.
My idea was to have a portable chicken coop/tractor that I could move around my yard. We have 15 acres, 4 of which is cleared. I wanted to be able to move it either by myself or with help, and so far, so good. About half of the wood I was able to salvage from work at no cost; the rest, like sheets of plywood, we bought.
Plans are from Mother Earth News "mini coop" but I'm also a first-time builder and let's just say I learned a lot.
Thanks for this forum - it's a *wealth* of information! --Jan
First pic was before side walls were installed. Chicken enclosure is on the left, chicken run on the grass is on the right. Both ends of the ark open up with hinged triangle doors. Whole thing sits solid on the ground and is either enclosed or has 1/2" hardware cloth to protect from predators. I also built a couple of nest boxes (not shown) from leftover scraps.
Second pic is same thing with side walls installed and door closed.
P.S. My plan is to end up with three hens (I think 6 is too many to stuff in there) but right now I have a straight run and no clue as to how many boys and girls. I was also advised to buy more chicks since you typically lose one or two along the way, so we'll see how it all works out.
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