Move an Outbuilding to a New Site (Simple Move) - homesteading.wood.simple PEP BB

Howdy Folks!! As many know, Permaculture advocates Zoning - the concept of placing elements relative to the frequency of visits.
I visit my chicken coop for eggs nearly every day. Logic suggests, the closer it is to my back door the less time I'll spend walking.

In the below pictures, I document moving my Chicken Coop to a new location, one quarter the original distance to my back door.




Chapter 1: Backstory
All in all, this was a fun endeavor.
I loved raising chickens, watching them eat my scraps, generate compost, and generally be chickens.
Life called for a change in seasons, so I harvested my birds the Saturday before Thanksgiving '23, with the help of a retired school teacher named Ed.

This left me with one chicken coop and zero chickens. I also realized the coop... had problems.
This was is an ongoing experiment, using cheap and free materials, learning along the way.

And so I learned.
The location, as mentioned, suboptimal for time and distance during inclement weather.
The coop was over 100 feet from my back door.
I didn't know any better, and don't all animals stink anyway?
Tin siding is fine and not my style, and really bright, and will be used for a roof or something.
The nest box was inside the run which made the location even more unfortunate (a young child couldn't "go grab the eggs" alone, for example).
In fact, the nesting box I made, totally sucked - so bad it probably deserves its own post in another thread somewhere.

While I often advocate a pastured chicken system, they might not fit every context - in this case, mine personally.
I had tried a Justin Rhodes style Chickshaw, and the new spot to which I was moving didn't really allow for that.
I'm off to experiment with something more akin to EdibleAcres chicken yard.

Each of these "micro-lessons" factored in and I found myself wanting to move my coop.


Chapter 2: Preparations
The changes I had in mind allowed me to strip the coop down to a barebones skeleton.
I realized tin siding adds a surprising amount of sheer strength to a structure, so I ended up adding some more braces until I felt comfortable.
I thought through where I wanted these braces based on my siding material: 2-foot sections of cedar fence boards.
I put these in place, along with some ratchet straps to help keep it all square.

Sure, community would have made this whole thing a breeze. And a friend even volunteered to move it with me, but I wasn't ready.

So I prepped the new location. I really like the "post in block" design I had used before.
Clearly they helped make the coop more readily reused.
And while I worked, I tried to come up with a viable method for moving it alone, because wouldn't that be a story...

Lo and behold! A frame from a Muller Garden Glider? (now called Muller's Smart Carts)
I betcha I can make that work.

With my axle ready, I created a brace to spread the weight of the coop frame across its two aluminum pipes, while also preventing said frame from contacting the wheels and preventing motion.

With these powers combined, I was ready to get a move on.

Chapter 3: Movers and Shakers
I stood in the back, squared my shoulders, griped the newly created frame palm-up, and lifted while shifting most the weight to the axle.
This was an exercise not only in the literal sense, but an exercise in cunning and guile as well.
Wrestling with a top-heavy, off balance, chicken-coop-skeleton is not for the reasonably well adjusted.

But well, I happen to be reasonably maladjusted, and a former wrestler to boot. yippee ki yay

Once I figured out how to keep it from tilting, it was smooth sailing.
It helps to have a lush carpet of mowable meadow though which to prance.
Though I always feel bad for crushing plants.

Finally I got it off the dandelions and parked it so I could go inside and eat.
One final push - er - pull to the end. I was tired.

I let it sit overnight, and the next day I came in and put it in its not-so-final resting place.
Now something like 25 feet from my back door ❤

Technically speaking, it's backwards.
But that's intentional and so I'm submitting this BB saying "I moved this to it's intended new temporary location"
When I'm ready to submit the Siding BB, I'll post me also turning it into it's final orientation as well.

If you read all these words, thank you. You deserve a gold star or something. I really hope you get it ★

Dave Burton wrote:This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the PEP curriculum.  Completing this BB is part of getting the wood badge in Homesteading.

In this Badge Bit you will move an outbuilding (simple to no foundation) to a new site!

GREAT MOVE GUYS_N_GALS! I'm sure you met your PEP goals, But, you missed seeing one problem.
Step back away from your shed and take a look at the large overhanging limb. Oops, trouble in the future!