New here, and I have my head swimming in coop designs. I keep coming back to a ground-zero question. I'd like to have a mobile run/coop. The buzz word right now is "chicken-tractor". Are these inherently weak in predator protection. I can leave sharp clipped-end wire mesh around the bottom perimiter but burying wire and having a completelt flat spot in the yard is going to happen with a mobile design. Do I need to give up on mobile design? I notice they aren't real popular here and can't help but wonder if this is why.
We got a mix of 9 chicks from the local RK/TSC store (layers). We live on 1acre just outside a very rural town. 60x30 garden, no dogs that are "regulars" but an occasional guest. Hawks have made a comeback that last 10 years. Coyotes have a healthy population in So. IL but I've not noticed many here and I attribute that to the dog boarding kennel 1/4mile away. Haven't noticed foxes/raccoons/possum this far from any woods, but I know they're around. (No trash raiding yet, been here a year.)
I'd rather not make a permanent structure but don't want to waste time/material and half my flock on making a "tractor".
Tablesaw/Miter/Router/Nailgun...not really limited by "handiness".
Abandon the tractor idea? If not, any suggestions? There's 1,000 designs/ideas and some are obviously more geared towards aesthetics than practicality.
We got a mix of 9 chicks from the local RK/TSC store (layers). We live on 1acre just outside a very rural town. 60x30 garden, no dogs that are "regulars" but an occasional guest. Hawks have made a comeback that last 10 years. Coyotes have a healthy population in So. IL but I've not noticed many here and I attribute that to the dog boarding kennel 1/4mile away. Haven't noticed foxes/raccoons/possum this far from any woods, but I know they're around. (No trash raiding yet, been here a year.)
I'd rather not make a permanent structure but don't want to waste time/material and half my flock on making a "tractor".
Tablesaw/Miter/Router/Nailgun...not really limited by "handiness".
Abandon the tractor idea? If not, any suggestions? There's 1,000 designs/ideas and some are obviously more geared towards aesthetics than practicality.