Mothering › Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Country Living/ Off the Grid › Need advice on structures for pasturing laying chickens.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Need advice on structures for pasturing laying chickens.

post #1 of 7
2/18/11 at 8:29pm
Thread Starter 

Total newbie here.  We've had chicks (15, mostly Red Stars) in a brooder for four days now, and we know that the countdown to building some kind of housing for them is well underway.  I am not liking the idea of a permanent chicken coop, as we have 13 acres of alfalfa that I would love to use to pasture them.  The structure would need to be both secure from predators and portable, with a built in chicken yard.  I've looked at the pictures on Katy's Chicken Tractor gallery, and there are a couple that look good, but I don't know if they are big enough to house that many birds.  For financial reasons,  I am not loving the idea of building two structures.  If anyone has any advice for me, please let me know!

 

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply
Reply
post #2 of 7
2/22/11 at 6:05am

Check out the backyardchickens forum.  There are tons of photos of various types of coops and a lot more chicken people who can help with specifics.

Reply
Reply
post #3 of 7
2/23/11 at 9:15am

Thank you for the link!  DH and I are moving to a new house where we can have chickens.  That website will be so very helpful!

Reply
Reply
post #4 of 7
2/24/11 at 8:12am

I had the same exact question!  Will you post what you decided to go with? 

Reply
Reply
post #5 of 7
2/24/11 at 8:27am
Thread Starter 

I will!  I've gone through a million photos on the web, and they are either huge or tiny chicken tractors - very few in-betweens.  I may go with building two small triangular ark-style pens.  They seem so efficient, space-wise, that it may be cheaper in the long run in terms of materials.  For sure, they look easier to move.  I may post again to see if anyone uses these and how they like them . . . 

Reply
Reply
post #6 of 7
2/25/11 at 11:36am

i'll share what we have.  my dh traded my beloved old volvo to a carpenter friend. 

this is a mobile coop but we're not using it as such.  it's good that it's mobile though, b/c we can clean beneath it for the compost.  it housed 20-something chickens at first but now we have 13.  there are 3 nest boxes in the back and we can get to them from the outside. 

our chickens free range/are pastured.  the coop is located in a fenced and gated area, but the chickens can get through the fence.  we have blinking predator lights and they are quite enclosed at night and pretty safe.  the coop is built on a small boat trailer.  it's pretty stinking cool, but i miss my old

car.  dh read the storey's guide to chickens and drew the plans for it-- there are roosts along both sides and there's a certain height that they needed to be, etc.  there was also a chicken coop book we used to get the idea.  but for the number of chicks you have, that's about where we are, and it's perfect for that or can hold more.  something like this could also easily have a yard around it to move with it, too...

  40203_1373254616771_1393957594_30867367_7145304_n.jpg

Reply
Reply
post #7 of 7
2/27/11 at 8:08pm

Nice mobile home! I love it!

 

There is a picture of a large, lightweight tractor. I recommend using stronger wire though, since predators can rip through the plastic.

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Chicken-Tractor-the-LONG-and-DIFFICULT/

Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Country Living/ Off the Grid
Mothering › Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Country Living/ Off the Grid › Need advice on structures for pasturing laying chickens.