Mobile Chicken Coop

My new coop is finished except for a couple of minor things like finding my tin snips so I can fit the metal on the roof to the edges better and nail it down all the way around and putting actual roosts inside.

It is now installed in the new pen and the older chickens have been moved in. I've also moved a couple of 'meaners' ducks in with them. These are some Muscovy's that are pulling feathers and are generally being mean to the other ducks.

This coop is inside an enclosure of 6' chicken wire with two strands of electric fence for predator prevention.

Once I moved out the big chickens and the meaner ducks I was able to open up the baby pen and let out the little ducklings. I think I might have a pair of pure Welsh Harlequins, while the other three look like crosses with some Harlequin markings, runner duck bodies and one with a crest on its head.

As soon as the weather cools off a bit more I will be having some duck dinners as most of the 11 Muscovys that I bought appear to be drakes.

Coop Update

chicken door open

Well I have worked most of the day on this new, mobile coop. In this picture, there is just a solid peice of thin plywood on the left That is the side the nest boxes will be on. Then the chicken door-cum-ramp in the middle. The right side will be chicken wire with a plywood shutter like the long side.

chicken door closed

Coop from the handle end

Here you can see I got the plywood shutters on over the chicken wire.

Shutters on the coop

Here you can see the plywood shutters I made on the long side, so I can prop them open for ventilation or if the weather is really nasty, like when it snows in the winter, I can close them.


It's been a lot of work the last two days getting things this far. I have tomorrow off, so I'll be working on the nest boxes, a door big enough for me to crawl in if ever necessary and the roof.

chicks hatched July 20.2012

And this evening I said goodby to the cute little chicks. They are going to a great home with 3 adorable young ladies who were very excited to have them!

And in other news it looks like I may have duck dinner quicker than I had planned. There are definitely too many Muscovy drakes and 2 of them are pulling the feathers of several other ducks and making them bleed. So they shall soon be dinner!