Portable Chicken Mini-coop Plan

Having been raised on a 40 acre farm as a kid, I am familiar with chickens on a large free-range scale, but now that my husband and I live in suburbia with just over an acre we are thinking of getting chickens on a small scale and got the idea to use our retired dog run for a chicken run. It's tall, long and critter proof, with a walk-in gate. We are planning to build a hen house for them to roost and lay of course, but with careful planning and modification, hopefully we can make it work.

So, where exactly are the "plans" mentioned in the title of this article? I see instructions and descriptions, but no plan.

http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html

I made a large "chicken tractor ark" for 6 chickens and it works great. The coop is off the ground and I haven't had predator or ant problems yet.

Ark shapes aren't that hard to make and give the chickens plenty of space on the ground. Mine has wheels on one end and I move it every three or four days.

Aggie

Chickens are WAY more hardy then some of you are giving them credit for. My first year with chickens they were in a large dog pen in an old wooden dog house. It was not insulated, it had no light. I had pine shavings in it, my hubby put two roost along both sides. I had seven hens in there. I had the roof slightly ajar and I never closed the door even though I could. I got eggs all winter long that first year. I moved them into a hen house for ME. I had a tarp over there pen covering their house later into the winter so I wouldn't get all wet feeding them and so their feed stayed dry. They were fine. The pen wasn't covered and I have never lost a bird to raccoons. I do have a run similar to the one mentioned in the article. I use it for junior birds as they are too young to come in with the flock. My concern of the design was keeping water out of the back part with the dog house top on sideways. I think I will still use a small tarp over the house end of the pen but I did enjoy the desing for the hen house using an old dog house as I have two just laying around! However, my birds are now in a large hen house and run and that is more for me than them. No crawling. This run would work great for a child doing a 4H project and wouldn't be keeping the birds through the winter. Or for someone who simply wants pet birds. It would also make a fine breeding pen if you are into that sort of thing. Finally, although I think Avian flu in the small hobby flock isn't likely, in our area we are dealing with other backyard breeders not being diligent when they have sick birds. We have had a small epidemic of sick/dying birds. Nothing that is a threat to humans but devestating to a backyard hobbyist, espeically those with show birds. All you need is a few bad eggs selling sick birds at swaps for that to spread through backyard flocks. I have had to put down an entire flock, build total new housing area and vow to be done with backyard breeders, sticking with hatcheri

I keep my flock against the house which keeps them warmer in the winter. It faces the east. Their coop is made of chicken wire and heaver gauge wire for the lower 4 feet.I placed strips of the heaver wire around the bottom plus cinder blocks to prevent digging. Sometimes I see evidence there has been digging.

It is a full 7 feet high with several roots at different levels. My hens need no ramps or ladders to get up to nests and roosts as they easily fly up to where they want to be.

Since I don't let them out to forage, I give them greens, meat and cooked apple waste + a variety of different foods. My chickens continue to lay eggs even though the temp dipped to 25 degrees here. My neighbors say theirs stopped laying in September. I used to think it was leaving a light on for them but found doing that made them tired during the day so I shut it off. I am going to put it on a timer though, in the spring so that my hens may eat the moths it attracts.

I have irected a dog compound that I am fortifying against predators where I will keep my birds early spring so they can dig up bugs and eat weeds.

I have read that if you slope the floor of your nests, the eggs will softly roll to the edge where you can construct a channel. I have wondered if the eggs would be in any danger of freezing if I did that.

What are some best practices for caring for the flock during winter months using this type of coop? Thanks.

This is a question more than a comment. I understand that hens will only lay for three or four years. What do you do with them when they no longer produce eggs? The obvious of course is chicken soup, but as a vegetarian and animal lover, this is not an option for me. The cost of continuous care would I feel negate the benefit of free eggs. Janet

Anyone know how this would work when there are fire ants? Our part of the country (Florida) doesn't have a yard free of fire ants unless you use poison. Since I don't use poison, I have fire ants. I don't think I could find enough ground/grass free of the ants to have any kind of chicken coop, portable or not.

Hmm...I like this chicken coop, except there is no place for the chickens to scratch. I don't believe the wire would be good for their feet.

I recently built a similar pen that solves this problem. I framed in a wire rabbit pen and elevated it on four posts. I enclosed in the area beneath the pen with two layers of chicken wire and framed around the bottom with wood. I used two layers so the holes were essentially half the size of one layer. I'm hoping this will keep out snakes. I cut a hole in the bottom of the wire pen and placed a ladder for the chickens to go down to the bottom of the pen. At night, the chickens climb the ladder for their dinner and we close the hole to the bottom story with galavanized wire that is attached to a bungie cord. By day, the chickens can eat pests and scratch in the soil or can go upstairs. At night, they are locked safely upstairs. It took about 3 days to train the chickens to go downstairs when we opened the hole.
The pen is lightweight enough to be portable, but heavy enough to keep coyotes from knocking it over.
Something to consider--when my son was four, we had a traditional chicken coop. He scratched his knee on a wire in the pen and had to have emergency surgery the next morning due to a raging ecoli infection. BE VERY CAREFUL to turn under all wire in chicken pens. If children will be collecting eggs, they should wear gloves and long sleeves.

I think I'll use the welded mesh as the 'run' component of a chook
tractor I'm going to build. Thanks for some useful ideas. I don't
know about where you are but in Australia we have available bags of
C-clips which you can close to an overlapped circle with their own
specific fencing pliers so that part of the job will be really
easy. Fortunately I live in Brisbane, Australia so there will be no
temperature related problems. I do have a couple of questions
though. I am always as kind to animals as is possible and I'd like
to know whether chickens have any difficulty foraging through a
mesh floor or whether they even like walking on one? What is the
minimum size mesh required to keep foxes out and what is the
maximum size mesh required to keep chickens (from point-of-lay
size) in? I'm quite sure that a small solid block of timber or a
builders framing bracket would make an excellent brace in the
corners if the run is too unstable.

This has been such a helpful discussion for us thinking of starting
our chicken coop- a million thanks to you all. I love Mother Earth
News too, and to all of you Happy New Year!

See many more backyard chicken coop designs at
http://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html .....I love Mother
Earth News.....

Last summer, my son took on a project of building chicken coops for
sale. Now, as part of a high-school project, he is doing research
on how he could improve his product. If you have time, would you
take his survey - probably about five to ten minutes.
http://www.niemannross.com/fiab And, seriously, no. This isn't a
scam or a sales pitch. You can include your name if you're
interested, but otherwise choose to be left alone. Thanks! Mark
Niemann-Ross

Why not just use large used pet taxis purchased from yard sales to
put your chickens in at night. The lids come off, they have a
handle on them for easy transportation and they have a wire door
that latches. For heat in the winter, since the ground is cold, sit
them on straw bales and stack staw bales around the pet taxi.

I read your whole article the first time, and my opinion of the
coop remains. My grandfather grew up on one of those farms you
mention, and he had to deal with frozen combs and feet. Look on any
chicken message board this winter and look at the postings about
frost-bitten chickens. Most people recommend keeping their house at
at least 40 degrees in the winter. Chicken ancestors came from
tropical rainforests, not the tundra. Further, last summer millions
of chickens perished in the heat wave in California. Free-range
flocks who were pastured died in large numbers. Chickens are forest
creatures, not plains animals, and although they need some sun,
also need shade. Further, most people have a night where they
forget to lock up the chickens or get home late, and the raccoons
are waiting. It only takes once... I read the bird flu book, and
it's excellent. Although they make a good case for factory farms
creating bird flu, once it gets out, free-range birds can get it
and have. Look at the UK DEFRA guidelines about what backyard bird
keepers can do to prevent their birds from getting it. Even if you
don't believe your birds can get it, if you can't prove quarantine
when bird flu arrives to your area, the government can come and
automatically kill your birds anyway, or if you're lucky, require
you to put them in more biosecure housing. To protect them, show
that you took precautions and be prepared with the proper housing.
In Europe, there were areas where chickens were ordered to be put
in proper housing for months at a time, or they'd be killed. I have
over 200 chickens, by the way.

Would this coop work for hot Florida weather? I am concerned that
the chickens would be way to hot in the doghouse since it is
totally enclosed with no ventilation.

I have made four of these coops, and if you follow the directions
in the article, the pen will be plenty stable and very easy to move
around. If Cheryl (above) had read the entire article, she would
have realized that there is not room for birds to roost on top of
the coop. She is correct to caution that raccoons can reach in (at
night) and kill chickens; but the article addressed this problem:
"I thought the wire pens would be fully predator-proof and the
birds would not need to be locked inside the house at night, but I
learned the hard way that gangs of raccoons can manage to scare
young birds out of the house, then reach through the wire and kill
them! So, even though the birds naturally go into the house at
night to roost, it’s still a good idea to close the door each
evening." Chickens and ducks are very hardy and can survive winters
in most regions without extra heat, especially in a small cozy
space such as this doghouse-coop. Using strawbales or bags of
leaves for wind protection would probably be a good idea in exposed
sites in northern regions. (Chickens survived nicely in unheated
coops even in northern areas of the U.S. before farmers ever had
electricity as an option.) A bigger challenge in areas with heavy
snow is likely to be that these small coops may become frozen in
the snow and manure levels may build up in the small space. You may
need to move the birds to a larger, non-portable shelter for the
snowy months, if your daytime predator risk makes it dangerous to
let them run free-range. Finally, bird flu is not a significant
risk to small home flocks unless they are near the giant, filthy
poultry factory farms--see www.birdflubook.com.

This coop will not protect them from predator who will reach
through, and is not even warm enough for a zone 9 winter. Further,
to protect them from bird flu and allow quarantine, it should have
a solid top. By making people think that this is all you need, you
are causing people to inadvertently be abusive to chicken Sorry,
but that's what I think. Most people need an insulated chicken coop
where you can place a heat source in the winter so they don't get
frost-bitten combs and feet. 1/2" hardware cloth will keep raccoons
from reaching through. Chickens like to roost, and a few if not all
of them will roost on top of that dog house where they are easy
prey. Racoons have been known to reach through a pull them out
piece-by-piece.

I have created some rabbit cages that are similar to this design.
Instead of the rings, I use j-clips, as they keep the welded wire
more tightly bound, and makes the whole things more stable. Instead
of crossbars, I use welded wire columns in my 4-foot and 5-foot
wide designs. I can drag my entire cage across the grass pretty
easily to give them new pasture. I also added a bit of corrugated
metal roofing to keep my rabbits dry and out of the sun (and to
keep the snow out in the winter). I set it next to a wooden hutch
so that they can get in out of the elements and away from scary
predators. You can see pictures at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cookwood/sets/72157594475915300/ I've
had it going since October with 4 rabbits and so far they've been
so happy, and there have been no predator problems. They hang out
there, eat lots of grass and clover, chase each other around. I'd
be happy to answer any questions. I'm thinking about creating a
chicken tractor with a similar design and was thus interested in
this design. Has anyone had luck with a bottomless design? Or had
trouble with this one as they don't have a lot of place to scratch?
I'd love to see pictures, if anyone else is building similar
structures. thanks, Liz

This is a good starter coop, and is portable. Every 3 days I lift
up the lighter end and rotate the whole thing clockwise, till it's
covering a new patch of grass. When I've completed the circle, I
recruit a 2nd person to help me move it completely to a new patch
of grass. I also let my chickens out for several hours a day to
graze, as it's cramped in there. They make their way back in there
when they've had enough outside time. If you are unable to do this,
you might find the coop too small. Some more things to consider: 1.
Don't build it if you're not physically flexible. For the first few
days, I had to crawl in there and teach the chickens to go in the
hut at night. Now they go in automatically at dusk. Also have to
crawl in to set up the hanging feeder, and to refill it and/or
clean it. 2. We use clips and bungee cords to secure it, which
makes it cumbersome to get in and out of --again, great for a
starter, but wouldn't want to put up w/ it long term. 3. The
chickens have no access to food or water at night, but they seem
okay w/ that. 4. We need to keep one tarp over the food, and
another over the doorway to the hut, b/c rain water drips into down
the closed door into the hut, and soaks the inside. 5. Haven't
figured out how we are going to go thru the winter yet, since there
is no electricity near it for a heat or light bulb... This coop is
just what the article promises: inexpensive, easy to build, and
portable. But for long-term chicken keeping, it won't do. We'll
keep it though to put replacement chicks in before introducing them
to the flock in years to come.

I'm opening the sides of the run from the bottom, so hoping metal
clips along both sides and the bottom will be secure enough. It's
hard to guess with some predators the lengths they'll go thru to
get into a chicken coop. On that same note, we had to use 1/4"
hardware cloth for the sides and top because of the predators out
where we live. They could easily get through anything else. Perhaps
that's what made the run less stable, but I don't think so. Anyhow,
once we secured the corners and sides with rebar, it held up as
stable. It just won't be portable, unfortunately. As for the
doghouse conversion, attaching the doors to the dog house became an
impossibility due to the slant and overhang of the doorways. I
ended up turning it back into a regular dog house, big doorway in
the front, no door. I will just access the eggs from the back by
lifting up the top of the doghouse and reaching inside. It is quite
easy, actually. I'll find a way to close the doorway off this
winter as it gets colder. One thing about this plan, I sure
wouldn't do it again! BUT it will work for now.

We made ours over the weekend, and it is not that unstable. I
thought it would be until I secured the doors and we ran the 1x2's
through the top. This also helps us move it all around the yard
with out any issues I was wondering, what are some good ideas for
securing the doors? I can't see myself tying knots all winter!

My dad and I are building this coop as shown in the magazine. The
run is VERY unstable, falls over easy, etc. so we will have to
stake it with some rebar or wood to make it stand up. I wouldn't
recommend using this as a chicken tractor or "portable coop" as it
claims. We gave up that idea as soon as we finished the run. It's
just too wobbly. As for the heat in winter, I would think as
Heather mentioned, red bulb heat lamp like you'd use in a brooder
would work. Good luck! :)

Thanks for your help! We're going to give it a try.

I haven't used this coop yet. However, I did keep ducks through
many cold Michigan winters. They stayed in a plastic shed similar
to a dog house just bigger. I filled it with straw and used
suspended heat lamps. (Just the simple single bulb ones with a red
warming bulb). I also used bales of straw around the duck house for
insulation and wind breaks. They had access during the day to the
outdoors but preferred to stay in most of the time. I know it was
always a long winter for them--but everyone stayed healthy and
safe.

Does anyone have thoughts as to whether this portable coop will
provide enough warmth to get chickens through a New England winter?
If not, any ideas on how to winterize it?? Thanks.

I have been away from your publication for many years , as city
life took over. My wife and I just retired (somewhat) and have
bought two houses in NC. Once we close I will subscribe again as I
love the country life style. Tod