Starting a chicken coop from a 20ft travel trailer.......any ideas and I have no idea where to start

[MusicHoneyBee]

Hello,
I am new on posting but I am excited to finally get chickens in the near future. I have learned from your post not to get them until the coop is completed.

I have been bugging my husband for years for chickens and finally I have something to work with. ( After 3 years of asking, he gave me two years ago chickens, a plastic farm hen and chicks from Atwoods) NOT the same thing, though dry humor is his specialty. I saw a trailer and wondered if it would work and I guess he thinks it will too. He has to pick it up, but I will put photos on as soon as I get it in my hot lil hands. One reason for the chickens is not just the eggs, but the necessity to get our chickens to eat the bugs, and I mean ticks, in the area. They will be fat and sassy at our place. They are already on the rampage here in Kansas and after treatment (non traditional) for 5 of the tick/co-infections,so having the coop is a life saving thing for me.

I would like to have some ideas on this, I will be making it a chicken tractor and yet have a run for them. We live on a farm, so hopefully when we get the cattle over to our house area, we can set it out there for them to have fun in the pasture. I plan to use solar lighting and also for possibly a electric current to keep out the bobcat, coyotes and such. I am looking at easy, breezy clean up since this is my baby, and with my health I need to clean up the inside easily. So many have great ideas on their coops which are rolling around in my head.

I feel bad I am getting a head start on not building it from scratch. But I am so excited about this. I am excited to see what you all suggest too. Thanks for the imput after I get the trailer. The trailer is 20 ft. with good tires to haul in and rough but very doable shape. (which is good, I figured since he is picky, it must have been okay, or he wouldn't bought it for me.) Should have it before Friday!

THANK YOU!

 

[iwiw60]

I'm so excited for you with your 'find' of that trailer to revamp into a coop..yay! Regarding not getting chicks/hens before you build/fix your coop, I did the reverse!! aaaack!! I'm erecting a shed kit and building my run off of it for my 4 BA chicks, so the pressure's on for me as the 'ladies' are getting BIG..they're almost 5 weeks now and I'm sure they want OUT of that brooder box..I know I would!

Putting the little foundation down tomorrow and a neighbor is helping me erect the shed. Then it's on to the run part. I'm tired just talking about it! You might do what I did when I first became a member here. I made a big pot of coffee and spent almost an entire day pouring over all the posts in the Coop & Run design thread...I got SO many ideas, etc. from doing that. And I remember seeing several people who are doing just what you're going to do...using a travel trailer as a coop....so start digging in!!

Best of luck in your venture!!

 

[MusicHoneyBee]

iwiwi60. Thank you so much for the encouragement and advice. I drove by and got the first look so I can put them on the thread! I had to sneak a peek for myself!!! Now so excited it is hard to sleep! I am a night nurse, so I have one more shift to finish tonight!

 

[iwiw60]

Woo-hoo!! Can't wait to see the pics and progress on the revamp!!

 

[MusicHoneyBee]

My outside just waiting to be brought home to momma!

 

[cstronks]

Find a coop with similar dimensions and copy their interior design into the trailer. I would strip the entire trailer and just create the coop. Once that is complete, you can paint the outside and have a really great looking project. Best of luck!

 

[Percheron chick]

The beauty of chicken coops are you can make one from just about anything you can thing of. Practical, safe and cost effective isn't always the most beautiful thing but it's the real world.

Cleaning is going to be a challenge. Everything is going to have to go through that door. I would look at the frame and see if there is anyway to add another door. Remove a section of the floor and put a trap door that you can just sweep everything out when it comes time to do the big clean. Remove all the soft surfaces. Seats, beds, curtains. Look at how you can use the current cupboards as nesting boxes and storage for feed. Leave the water system. Having a hand sink is always handy as well. You can pull the grey and black water tanks because you won't be using those and it will just be one more thing you have to think of going into winter. No big deal if you just run a hose off the hand sink and dump the waste water on the ground away from the run. It will come in handy to have water move around with the chickens and not have to haul it. You might want to leave the bathroom as a place to brood chicks separate from the main flock. The windows will give you a nice cross breeze in the summer and if you put a perch in front of the window, they will enjoy the winter sun there. Do you have an access door on the other side (about 2x2) to get to the water or cooking system? Use that as your pop door and build a run off of that side. I would also look at the electrical system and if it's safe, leave that was well. 1-2 outlets that you can run an extension cord to in the winter would make your life easier.

 

[CLUCKABAGO]

do you have an updated photos. I'm looking at doing a similar project.