Hi folks!
I have a dream of building a general purpose/modular mobile farm shelter that could be used for nearly all types of livestock. I've built several temporary cattle panel/t-post/tarp shelters for pigs and goats, and have one replica of
Harvey Ussery's Chicken Ferrari racing around my hilly pastures. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this dream, and certainly others have attained it. Have any of you done so, and may I
blatantly plagiarize innovate on it with you?
Here are my ideas of design goals, in descending order of importance:
Mobile, can be moved by one personProvides shelter from precipitation and windAble to walk around in without severe head trauma (I'm 1.9m tall)Able to install things inside, e.g. nest boxes, feeder, roosts, watererVentilationSunlightWheels retract and/or lock, for use on hilly pasturesDurable (e.g. plastic or other fragile materials not exposed to animals)Good value (i.e. not necessarily cheap, if it lasts forever)Lightweight, yet won't blow away
I'm thinking of starting with one of:
A FarmTek grab bag shelterPort-a-hutSomething I'm not thinking of
And then adding a base frame, and attaching wheels to the frame, like from this
mobile chicken coop, or
a modular wheel assembly (originally from
this mobile hoop house), or maybe four of
these. Then, adding some supports along the walls/ceiling to which could be attached feeders/waterers/nest boxes/roosts.
These would be designed to be used within paddocks surrounded by electric fence, so predator deterrence is less important than with a standalone shelter, though I suppose it would not protect perfectly against aerial predators.
What do you all use for temporary/mobile shelters?