How I built my portable Chicken Coop and Chicken Pen
I am not going to drag this post out…we now have 8 chickens in the backyard. As you can see from the pictures, I put the chicken coop on wheels so I could move it around the backyard as needed. I did not want a mud pit developing from a stationary coop. The coop is 4′W x 8′L and 6′H to the peak. It has 4 nesting boxes, and a self feeder that holds about 100 pounds of starter feed. I added vents to the peak, windows to the front for ventilation. I also, added 1/2″ x 1/2″ fencing to the inside of the windows so they could not peck the screen or a predator could not push through the screen over night.
I added an old truck bed-liner to the bottom of the coop. You can do this by calling your local Line-X dealer and ask for a free plastic bed-liner. Anyway, I put straw on top of the bed-liner, so the chickens don’t know the difference, but it allows me to pull the entire floor out so I can discard all the chicken leftovers. I dump it in the garden during none growing seasons and then just hose off the plastic liner and reinsert.
I mounted the red heat lamp from when they were chicks in the house as well. I plug this in during cold nights. It works perfect because it will keep the roost where they sleep about 15-20 degrees warmer than outside. I mounted a thermometer inside the windows so I can see the temperature inside the coop.
The portable pen was made out of PVC piping. I used this because it was weather proof, easy to put together and light enough for the kids or wife to move around the backyard. It is 8′W x 15′L x 3′H. I added a swinging door at one end so the kids could easily access the pen to change water or whatever needed. I also added a 8′ x 6′ tarp to the top for shade. This is very important during hot days. The chickens seem to prefer the shaded area in the middle of the day. I used chicken wire and plastic tie straps to hold the wire to the PVC.
I hope this gives you some good ideas if you are considering a coop and pen. My goal starting this was for it to be portable, as attractive as a coop can be and fun for the kids. I believe we accomplished all of this with this setup.
The last thing I plan on doing soon, is spray painting the PVC piping green so it blends in a bit more with the grass.
Enjoy!
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6 Responses to “How I built my portable Chicken Coop and Chicken Pen”
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This is really fantastic and very well thought out! It’s very attractive and functional. However, I expected nothing less. Good for you! I know your family will enjoy this…it’s a LOT different from the one I had when I was growing up…trust me!
Wow, I want to move in. Chelsea and Stu are making a coop themselves. They started yesterday. It will be awhile before they are done. I will passs this site on to her so they can see what they need to do to keep up with the Kennedy’s. Its beautiful!
Very very nice! Gives me great ideas. What kind/size wheels did you use?
I’m curious about the bed liner? How do you remove it from the coop?
I would like the size of the wheel and more info about the bed liner. How do you remove it to clean it? I like how it looks. I want to get myself some chicken for summer. I think i cannot have chicken in winter. The weather here is pretty cold. I live near Montreal, Canada
Mario
Curious about the bed liner, the size of wheels, as well as whether or not you have any more pics, such as the inside.