My 6X12 mobile chicken build on an old boat trailer

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Cluckies
Very nice, thanks for sharing. I would put hardware cloth over the windows if you haven't already, you can put in on the inside as well to not ruin your look. I did that to mine, glad I did, my camera picked up a weasel coming from my coop the other night, a weasel or raccoon will go right through screen. I have screen on mine as well to keep skeeters out. It is funny, when I saw your nest boxes, i was like those are going to tip! then I saw you screwed them down. I know they would tip 'cause I used cat litter boxes, and put sweet PDZ in the bottom to keep them from tipping (cause one tipped) :) I'm in Minnesota as well. nice coop!
WhiteWaterLady
Beautiful! Now that you've had it almost a year, how do you like it? Would you make any changes?
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gtaus
gtaus
One thing I have changed is that my dollar tree dish bins for nest boxes needed to be screwed down on to the rail in the back. As my hens got heavier, they started tipping the bins despite the anti-tip bar I had installed under the bins. Since I have added the screw to the dish bins, there have been no more incidents of the bins tipping. I only needed one screw in the middle of the rim of the bin, so if I have to remove the bin for any reason, it's still really easy to remove and clean.

My original idea was to move the chicken coop to fresh grass maybe every month. In reality, the chickens scratch and dig up all the grass and I did not want to turn my backyard into a dirt parking lot. So I have basically set the coop in one place and just left it there. I turned the dirt chicken run into a deep litter chicken run filling the run with leaves, wood chips, grass clipping, and just about everything else I pull out of the garden that the chickens will eat.

Other than that, I am very happy with my coop and I think the changes I have made have been for the better.
PioneerChicks
Nice coop! It is much more pleasing to look at them mine...
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Reactions: WannaBeHillBilly and gtaus
gtaus
gtaus
Thank you for the review. I used a lot of old wood and shingles I had behind the garage. New paint makes everything look better. Also, I liked the red and white classic barn look for the coop.
DobieLover
You will need more ventilation! I didn't see any hardware cloth over your sliding windows. Without it, they are not secure from predators.
How often do you move the coop?
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Reactions: OrpingtonManiac, LaFleche, WannaBeHillBilly and 1 other person
gtaus
gtaus
I was thinking I might need more ventilation up high. The sliding windows have screen over them, but not hardware cloth. Do you think a predator could climb up a 5' wall and then break through the screen? I plan on moving the coop once in the spring to the backyard, then again in the fall to bring it closer to the house for the winter. Thanks for the review.
TheBantyShanty
Nicely done! :thumbsup
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Reactions: WannaBeHillBilly and gtaus
gtaus
gtaus
Thank you for the thumb's up. I had a hard time finding plans for a mobile coop that was not based on a chicken tractor design. So I just built a gambrel style shed design on the boat trailer platform. Hope it might give someone else an idea if they are looking to build a mobile coop on an old boat trailer.
WannaBeHillBilly
Very good idea to recycle an old boat trailer! Lot's of pictures and many details. Fun to read.
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gtaus
gtaus
Thank you for the review. I recycled not only the trailer, but also all the dimensional lumber, tar paper, and shingles. Got rid of a lot of things piled up behind the garage for years. I needed a mobile coop because I have to move it closer to the house for winter. Built it by myself, with limited experience and skills, based on reviewing YouTube videos almost every step of the way.
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