We just bought a house and haven't really figured what we're doing with the backyard, so having something that is somewhat movable is ideal. I know that coyotes and raccoons are in the area, so I need to build something that is a bit of a fortress at night. Lightweight, big enough for three hens, and a fortress - Sounds like a challenge!
I've been mulling over building a chicken tractor (4x6 or 4x8) - light enough for two adults to move- that 'parks' within a raised bed. The raised bed walls would be about 6 inches high. In all four corners of the bed, there'd be a leveled cinderblock to ensure that the frame of the tractor is seated properly. Along the raised bed wall, I'd bury chicken wire along the perimeter, buried about 6-8 inches underground.
And when we figure out where we'll be building our new shed and our fence, we can work on something a bit more permanent and heavier.
Here's a sketch.
Something I've also considered was making two or three of these raised beds, and planting them with fast growing greens (wheat, lettuce, oat grass) so they can have a buffet every few weeks, but I'm not sure if the build up of uncured chicken manure would be too hot for the plants to grow well. But it'd be nice to have a green run to leave them in if we're ever gone for a weekend and can't move them to a fresh yard patch in the morning.
What I'm afraid of in this design is that even a 4x6 square coop and run will simply be too heavy to move often. So if you have sneaky tricks to make the construction lighter without compromising stability, I'd LOVE to hear them. The coop would be raised off the ground to allow foraging underneath, so they'd have full access to 24 square feet of run, but I wonder if 8 sq/f per bird will be enough. I grew up with chickens, but they were completely free ranged, so this is really a whole new concept for me.
I've been mulling over building a chicken tractor (4x6 or 4x8) - light enough for two adults to move- that 'parks' within a raised bed. The raised bed walls would be about 6 inches high. In all four corners of the bed, there'd be a leveled cinderblock to ensure that the frame of the tractor is seated properly. Along the raised bed wall, I'd bury chicken wire along the perimeter, buried about 6-8 inches underground.
And when we figure out where we'll be building our new shed and our fence, we can work on something a bit more permanent and heavier.
Here's a sketch.
Something I've also considered was making two or three of these raised beds, and planting them with fast growing greens (wheat, lettuce, oat grass) so they can have a buffet every few weeks, but I'm not sure if the build up of uncured chicken manure would be too hot for the plants to grow well. But it'd be nice to have a green run to leave them in if we're ever gone for a weekend and can't move them to a fresh yard patch in the morning.
What I'm afraid of in this design is that even a 4x6 square coop and run will simply be too heavy to move often. So if you have sneaky tricks to make the construction lighter without compromising stability, I'd LOVE to hear them. The coop would be raised off the ground to allow foraging underneath, so they'd have full access to 24 square feet of run, but I wonder if 8 sq/f per bird will be enough. I grew up with chickens, but they were completely free ranged, so this is really a whole new concept for me.
