Building a Chicken Coop
Back in April of 2017, we built a chicken coop to house our growing flock. Spring was around the corner, the chicks were outgrowing their brooder, and they were ready to be relocated to their permanent home.
Thanks to Tyler’s skill set, his brother Nick’s generous offer to assist with the project (Nick also happens to be a carpenter by trade), and some other extra hands along the way, we were able to finish building the chicken coop in less than a week.
For some time, we allowed the chickens to free-range so they could have the best farm life possible, foraging freely in the grass, looking for bugs, and just living like chickens. Tyler was always reluctant to allow this, but it made me happy to see the chickens running around the farm uninhibited, and I fought hard to get my way. Unbeknownst to me, predators were lurking, and equally happy to see chickens running around the farm. It took losing a few chickens to the hawks and foxes before I finally saw the wisdom in Tyler’s hesitation to free-range chickens, and for the protection of the flock, from that point onward the chickens remained inside their enclosure.
Chickens, as you may or may not know, are incredibly destructive to the landscape, particularly if continually confined to the same area. In looking for bugs, they will scratch with their claws, creating uneven and unsightly patches of grass. Concentrations of their manure, high in nitrogen, will basically burn the grass and keep anything from growing. They will dig large holes in which they will take “dust baths” to help ward off parasites and keep their feathers clean. The list goes on. By putting an end to free-range chickens, we solved the predator problem, but unearthed another problem: the chickens were completely destroying the yard.
Long before I owned chickens, it had always been my dream to have a mobile chicken coop. I simply liked the idea of a movable coop, and didn’t realize that having a mobile chicken coop could help mitigate the many “consequences” of owning chickens. One week after confining the chickens to their enclosure, I realized how important it was to either free-range our chickens (obviously no longer an option), or get moving on the movable coop. Tyler said all we needed was find a trailer, and we could turn our existing stationary coop into a movable one.
Months of searching proved futile (too expensive, too far away, etc.), until a few weeks ago, when Tyler came across a utility trailer his co-worker didn’t have a use for anymore. This trailer was exactly what we needed to make the chicken coop mobile! The owner was more than happy to get rid of the trailer - and for free - which we couldn’t have been more delighted about. Tyler offered his co-worker $150 to deliver the trailer, and a deal was struck!
The trailer was delivered to the farm, and after some careful planning, it was time to put our thoughts into action to make our mobile chicken coop. The plan was simple, yet potentially dangerous: 1) Lift the coop up using a car jack and tractor, 2) Cut off the four supporting legs with a chainsaw, 3) Slide the trailer underneath the coop, and finally, 4) Lower the coop onto the tractor.
Of course in concept things always seem easier, and our “simple” four-step plan was no exception. Mind you, the original chicken coop was built to be a long-lasting and stationary structure, and was quite heavy due to the building materials. Furthermore, the ground was not level, large adjacent pine trees prohibited us from getting to the coop from certain angles with the tractor, and the chickens were constantly in panic mode, reminding us of the dangers of what we were doing. There were times the coop hung precariously to one side. Other times it seemed like the coop was going to slide off the jack and come crashing down. Several times we had to lower the coop and start again from the first step.
Finally, after two hours of trial and error, and out-of-this-world spikes in blood pressure, we successfully accomplished our mission to make a mobile chicken coop! We - and the chickens - couldn’t be happier!
