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Hay anyone here built a moveable chicken coop (4 hens-size). I have been looking for some rough plans to build one.
I live in SE PA (west of Valley Forge) and need to protect the hens from 4-legged creature and hawks. So i will wire with 1/2 mesh. Some what afraid about digging animals with a moveable system.
Any help would be appreciated.
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look for Chicken Tractor plans.
I think the Backyard Poultry mag has publisher some.
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Location: Truro,N.S. Canada
Contact Broken ol Marine in off topic. His wife is a big chicken raiser.
Mel
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My dad has 2 chicken tractors. They are a lot bigger than what you want, but what he did was build a wood frame, then attach 2"x2" rafters as it were and a ridge beam such that from the end it looks like a triangle. About 4' of one end is metal roofing to give the chickens some protection from weather. This is where the roosts are. He used all thread as axles and some small wheels on on end. The other end he picks up with a tractor and moves them around that way.
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Some ideas here:
Link Not saying to buy from them; they just have some good pics of different ideas.
We'll be getting chickens this season. We were just out looking at sheds which can be modified for our use. Not looking for a chicken tractor. Our setup may be a modified coop/occasional free-range thing. We'll likely pick up a few guinea fowl; we have been overrun with hoppers and crickets our first two seasons in this place.
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
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Build it on a trailer.
For protection, a well fenced in area is much more secure for all except egg loving snakes at which a few golf balls can cure.
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I snagged an old beat to death trailer to build a coop on. Just need to strip it down ..
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. - Philip K. Dick
Mark
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a friend of mine uses a few runs of fishing line over his garden to keep out birds. He swears it works.
Perhaps that would work for overhead protection of a fenced in chicken area from hawks and such...
or maybe hawks would be more willing to risk crossing the line for meat than regular birds are to get corn.
Ray
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I had just rounded the corner to the back yard when I saw the hawk take off with one of my chickens in his grasp. I guess he miscalculated the lift/weight ratio and when he couldn't clear the trees he dropped the chicken. The chicken was dead. You could see where the talons had punctured the skin, so i wasn't sure if the hawk had killed it or the chicken died from the fear of falling. I could swear I heard the hawk chuckling when he looked back.
We had chicken for dinner.
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For sure hawks are a lot more ... ambitious.

I once saw one try to take up squirrels in my yard. The hawk missed it by a hair as the squirrel jumped a few inches to the side just before the attempted grab.
Impressive - not just that it happened, but that I and my family just happened to be looking at the squirrel from our back window when it did.
Did your chickens have any overhead protection?
Ray