Dear Countryside,

I was wondering if you could please send us information and plans to build the movable chicken coop that was featured in you 9/98 magazine. We would like these as soon as possible.

Our home address is: Diana Murphy 9490 Kahl Rd. Black Earth WI, 53515

Phone #: (608)767-3442

Thank You! Diana Murphy

*Please send as soon as possible*

-- Diana Murphy (murphyhome@globaldialog.com), June 18, 1999

Answers

I am sorry but I will not have time to draw up a set of plans for the chicken coop. I wrote the article just to give people one option of what they could do. Take a look at the article and just go from there as everyone will want to change the plans a bit.

-- Steve Belanger (csymag@midway.tds.net), June 21, 1999.

You have probably already recieved this suggestion before, but I am new here and hope this will help. My husband and I just started raising poultry this way last summer and the books we found helpful were Chicken Tractor, by Andy Lee, and Pastured Poultry Pofits, by Joel Salatin. Good Luck! D

-- Donna Briggs (Mibriggsx5@aol.com), July 04, 1999.

hi! I read this as my husband was outside building our portable coop.

I will try to describe it as best I can! Email me for things you don't understand, okay?

measures 8 foot long by 4 foot wide by 32 inches high. Our first one was 36 inches hi and I couldn't reach in well enough to change the waterer, so he gave me a few inches. It's hard being short!

on the bottom, Mike uses two by fours for stability On the top, he uses 2x2's. about 1 and 1/2 foot up he uses 2x2s as a support going the length and width of the coop.

along one wall (width wall) he placed additional 2x2s for the laying boxes. (the laying boxes are each one square foot wide) so you need to have a place for them to sit on

about three foot from the width wall, he puts a roosting bar (a limb from a tree works) from that bar, go another foot and put another roosting bar. (the chickens like to hop from one to the other)

on the width wall opposite of the width wall that will hold the laying boxes, put a feeder dish. We used a gutter piece. it works if you screw it in to the stablizer bar along the width wall. We also put their waterer there. Do not put the feeder tray near the roosting bars as the chickens have no care where they poop!

on each upper corner of the coop, Mike puts a triangle piece for stability. in the middle of the length side, he puts a piece connecting the 2x4 and the stabilizing middle bar 2x2 to keep the coop rigid.

If you want a picture of this, I can take one and scan it in.

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-- Cheryl Rodvang (fullcircle@nidlink.com), July 15, 1999.

Greetings! I did the wood and chicken wire bit for my first year of "cooping". From that experience, I've changed my system a bit. This time, I've used PVC pipe and connectors with 2x4 welded wire and I hold the whole thing together with those "zip" ties. A tarp over the top and around two sides for shade and weather protection and I'm all set. I like using a taller coop so that I can walk right in with the birds. Mine are now 4' high, 4' wide and 8' long. I hang the feeder from the ceiling and put the waterer on the ground. The PVC makes the whole thing very lightweight and easy to move, so it _gets_ moved. Haven't had any wind trouble, and I get some humdinger winds here. I hold the door panel shut with bungee straps, hook into the wire, wrap around the uprights and hook into the other panel wire. Keeps the frame rigid too.

Hope this helps someone! Karen

-- Karen Raymond (76275.2532@compuserve.com), August 03, 1999.

Do not know about this format as to how to attach pictures so will submit them to you through your email address. These are small portable houses that Carl Stough made.

Hope this helps out.

-- Edgar K Mongold (edgar@mongold1.com), December 25, 1999.

Cheryl Rodvang, hope you don't mind couple more questions. Do you put anything on the bottom to avoid predators, racoons, skunks etc? How often do you move the pens? Thanks, Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), February 06, 2000.

i got two 12 foot lenghts of wood and 6 ft across by 3 ft high and covered the sides and ends (with door).

-- jon bon (pionklizzy3@aol.com), March 18, 2002.