Mobile Chicken House from free wood

I came across this nice load of free wood from a neighbour who was going to take it to the dump the other day and now I am converting it into a mobile chicken house. Stay tuned for the progress. So far I just have a picture of the free wood.

I got out the tools yesterday started putting the mobile coop together. First I framed up a box, put in some roosts, and then got started on the supports for the steel roof.

And they were going to burn all those nice boards...

You'll find that running a materials wanted ad will lead to many more great finds. Also, any type of hauling or clean up business can lead to you being paid to gather resources. Commercial fencing contractors pay people to rip out good chain link fencing.

Dale Hodgins wrote:You'll find that running a materials wanted ad will lead to many more great finds. Also, any type of hauling or clean up business can lead to you being paid to gather resources. Commercial fencing contractors pay people to rip out good chain link fencing.

Right on. I will have to look into this a little more.

So I mostly finished up the house. I put in some nesting boxes on the side and some steel as a roof. I still need to get some wheels on it or some nice handles so two guys can move it.

I also just picked up some electric net fencing and am in the process of getting that all set up. I have a battery and solar panel to run the fencing, so I'll have to make a little covering for the battery and energizer thing. We'll see what I come up with for that.

Here are a few pictures.

I managed to get most of the chickens into the new paddock area this morning. They didn't want to go, but after a little fasting overnight they were ready for some food and I was able to lure them in. They didn't want to stay in either, but once I hooked the fence up to the battery, they stopped trying to escape...

My power station for the fence is pretty makeshift right now, but should work for a time. I pounded a piece of galvanized pipe I had around a good 2 feet in the ground to attach the grounding cable from the energizer to. I nailed a nail on a stake to hang the energizer on, pounded that in and then hung a pail over it to keep the rain off. The battery I hooked up to the panel and the energizer, then put it on a piece of wood to keep it off the ground. I then stood a couple pieces of wood up next to it and covered it with this big old rubber mud flap I found. Should keep everything dry and running until I figure something better out.

I also leaned some stuff against the side of the coop to give some shade and protection against the rain. Under there I put a little dust bath thing as well.

But most importantly, I now have paddock shift type system I can move around the field!