Chicken Palace on Wheels

Bottom frame and legs, portable coop

Well with 33 birds things are a bit crowded around here. While the ducks don't sleep in the hen house, my original little place was only built to house about 5 birds, so the 9 that are roosting in there are a bit crowded.

I've been looking at every type of portable coop design on the internet and saw a great design at Mother Earth News. However there were a few things I wasn't thrilled with, like the wheels were all the way out at the end of the frame. That means when you pick up the handles, you have to pick up the weight of the entire coop. I thought bringing the wheels in closer, about a third of the way in from the end would be better. That way more of the weight is actually on the wheels. This is the way garden carts are made and why I could haul 4 bales of hay in one trip, pulling it with one hand over level ground. I just got the wheels on the coop frame tonight, right before dark and it rolls like a dream.

A lot of coop designs out there are more chicken tractors, with a little space for roosting and nesting and some fenced in for a run. What I was looking for was an actual coop, just for roosting and nesting, to use inside my electric fence. My design is 4' x 7 1/2', or 30 square feet. I think it will probably work out for about 10-15 birds, since they will never be confined inside except at night.

chicks

And just because they are so cute, here are the little chicks that were hatched last week. They are all little characters.