Temporary coop?

Essentiallyokanaganmom · Jul 6, 2019

We got chicks this year and are using a existing coop on our property from previous owners, as time goes on we are finding more and more reasons to dislike it. Its got pleanty of space (as it takes up a huge area) but that's about all it's got going for it.... hubby wants to build a new coop that's both esthetically prettier and more practical and easier to winter for our chickens... problem is this massive coop is taking up the only good place in the run (the side of a hill in the desert) to build a new one.... what are our best, inexpensive temporary options for a place to secure and sleep the chickens (10 of them) while we dismantle and rebuild what's there?

Steven Bussell · Jul 6, 2019

How many chick's do you have ,how old are they and pictures of your coop would be helpful.

Ridgerunner · Jul 6, 2019

So you are in Canada fairly near Vancouver.

Is your run predator proof? If so, where you are this time of the year put up a tarp in the corner of the run and put roosts under it. That should be all the protection they need from weather. For nests use milk crates or boxes, set them on the ground so they won't turn over when a chicken perches on the edge, and fill them with bedding. They might use them. You may need to put a temporary fence across the run to isolate where the coop is being rebuilt.

If the run is not predator proof, what do you have to work with?

Essentiallyokanaganmom · Jul 6, 2019

We are 4 hours away from Vancouver but in a very different climate. Hot and dry in the summer (canadas only desert) and cold and dryish in the winter. We can probably use the existing run if we can fence it off. Part of it is secure.

Ridgerunner · Jul 6, 2019

Yeah on the dry side. Still great weather as far as housing chickens. It's not like it is winter. They will need shade.

I don't know how big that secure area is or how long you will need to keep them in there. If it is big enough for 10 chickens, then the least expensive and probably easiest is to put a secure fence across it.

I don't know what out buildings or other fenced areas you might have to work with. I don't know what inexpensive materials you can lay your hands on. Do yours free range during the day so they only need a secure sleeping place or do you keep then penned during the day? I don't know what you have to work with or how long it will take to finish the work. Life has a way of getting in the way of schedules.

A hoop coop is one of the easiest and quickest to build but those panels are not cheap and you still need to make it predator-proof. Something cheap and easy but protected with electric fence might work.

Essentiallyokanaganmom · Jul 6, 2019

We have 10, 7 week old birds. Havent let them free range much as with 3 kids we come and go so much from the house and have lots of hawks and snakes, I let them out when we are home and outside with them, thier secured outdoor area has a roof and is at least as large if not bigger as the current coop so I think your right the easiest would be fence of the side where the coop currently is and try and keep building time to a minimum. Time to start planning and figuring out what exactly we need...I'm hopeful to build something that's off the ground so hopefully/maybe we can build a lot of it before we even need to move it to that spot!

paintedChix · Jul 6, 2019

I have a couple of different plans for the CP hoop coops - from larger, walk-in 8x8' to smaller 3x5' that are only knee height. If you want to "tractor" them around, you can add wheels or make them a little smaller to make them lighter.

I am currently working on putting together CP "A-Frame" tractors. Using 2 cattle panels, I cut them "in half" (you'll end up cutting off a spike of wire & 1 tractor will be 1 square longer than the other) - this gives you two tractors. My base is 2x4" treated lumber - 5x8'. The top is ... haven't measured - the two panels are 50" tall and leaning together in the center.

When they are completely done, they will have a "gate" on each end that is made from CP, covered with wire - extending up from bottom about 3 or 4 squares? I will be using fence staples that aren't completely driven in tight to hold the gate and it will open downward to allow inner access to chickens, nest box (in future) and water. Then the top triangle part will be solid material. Playing with that still. Right now, they have just 2x4 wire secured to the base and zip tied all the way up the triangular A-Frame. I will be doing HC aprons that can be raised and snapped up out of the way while moving, then dropped back down and pinned into place.

I currently have 6 young chickens in each tractor and at the moment move forward 1 full length every other day. I have access to lots of cardboard, right now, they are "roofed" by large sections of cardboard boxes that are just hung over the A-frame. Will be tarping 1/2 of the tractor though. I don't have the roosts or the nest box installed yet, either. They have temporary branches for roosts and so far, no interest.

Will take pictures and share tomorrow. Can also do a "not blueprint style" drawing showing what the gates at each end will look like. When I'm done, we'll have 4 A-Frame coops and 2 smaller hooped coops. The chickens are no longer allowed to free range - we lost the flocks of 55 Flowery Hens, Bielefelders, CLBs & RBs between late last fall thru the winter. These tractors are being moved so that they have clean ground and I get a great growing "new" section of grasses... and hopefully next year, I will be hatching my own replacements instead of buying them again. I am picking up a replacement flock of 55 Flowery Hens (5 pullets and 1 roo) tomorrow morning and I am REALLY looking forward to getting them!! That means that I've replaced all of my flocks EXCEPT for the Bielefelders, which I haven't found yet (w/o ordering directly from GFF, which I'm not doing just yet).

If you are going to be getting your coop done relatively quickly - just one tractor that size, that you move along your yard or pasture, should suffice with that number of birds. As they mature/get larger, you could build a 2nd tractor and have them side by side or front to rear, etc w/ 5 birds in each. As I'm watching my birds mature, I'm thinking that I don't want any more that 4 birds in a tractor - 3 hens/1 roo. We'll see.

paintedChix · Jul 28, 2019

I'd said I'd post pics and I'm just now getting the pics "done" that I've had. I've attached a full set showing from parts of the building to what I have now. Plus have included some pics of other tractor set ups I have. Remember - mine are NOT FANCY, but they work... The A Frame tractors are 5' wide by "about"? 8' long. When first build w/ no roosts, cardboard for a roof and no CP gates they were easier to move. Much heavier now with the CP gates at each end (still no roost or nest boxes). Wasn't going to add wheels, but probably will now...