Here is my new paddock shift, feather net, open bottom, manure containment, egg mobile. It took two weekends of constant bickering, but the husband and I got 'er done-almost.
My requirements after much reading and head scratching:
portable (in this case movable with my tractor)
not ugly- my neighbors are not farmers and I wanted this thing to be nice looking and fit in with my garden.
inexpensive -well this turned out to be not a true as I hoped. But lots is scrounged and nothing terribly costly-the hardware cloth was by far the most money.
Totally predator proof - This is what took so long. I know of people in my area that have lost a whole flock to some weasel species that got in through the chicken wire holes. This meant no opening bigger than .5 inches ugh!
Chickens COULD be confined 24hrs - Although the plan, in general, was to let them out in the day to range, I wanted a coop that COULD contain them happily on grass without opening the door for at least a day.
Manure containment System- I didn't want to give all the manure to the grass-I wanted at least some for myself. So I added a "shelf" under the roosting area to collect all that nice poop and give them bedding to play in.
So here she is:
