ABC acres: Mobile Coop Version 2.0 - episode
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- čas přidán 8. 03. 2016
- Join ABC acres, a Permaculture Farmstead in Hamilton, MT as we introduce our new and improved mobile chicken coop, "Version 2.0." After using our first coop for a couple years, we learned lessons from the design mistakes we made, and applied improvements to our new model. You can learn from our mistakes in making your own functional and efficient mobile chicken coop. Enjoy!
Nice design. Also, the pause and smile long enough for the rooster to crow was a fun touch haha
+huggstaff13 , thanks for watching and for the feedback. One thing we have learned with certainty taking on animal husbandry is attempting to control the situation regarding livestock is a fool's errand. We do direct and manage their behaviors to our benefit and to improve the land, but we also enjoy their characteristics and expressions. It is part of what makes partnering with nature so rewarding for us.
Blessings,
Grant
A very nice coop, thanks for sharing.
New sub here. Looks like we do some of the same kinda things. Now I’m fixing to build my large mobile coop.
Your presentation was so well thought out...I really appreciate the flow of information. I especially like the concepts of self regulation, accepting feedback and mistakes are tools for learning!
+Leela O , thanks for the encouragement. The principle of applying self-regulation and accepting feedback, as well as having an attitude that mistakes are tools for learning allow for continual reflection and growth both personally and with all the elements and systems we interact with on a regular basis. Thanks for watching and engaging in the conversation!
Great video, great channel!
Thanks Michael, glad you are finding some value in it!
Good ... thank you
I'm in the process of building a mobile chicken coop now. Don't have any chickens at the moment but am going to buy some very soon. I don't have plans and don't have any real carpenter experience lol. I really like your design. I'm trying to use some of your ideas and some other video ideas. Mostly I scratch my head thinking about how I'm going to do it. Frustrating lol. Thanks for the video and great job on the coop!!
Elijah, a chicken coop is a great project to build carpentry skills, there's nothing complicated...
Grant,
Excellent videos. I am living in a well populated area managing a retreat center that has allowed my wife and I to raise chickens for meat and egg production. I really like the aesthetics of your mobile chicken house, something that i have to be aware of in the local we are raising chickens. I noticed in a previous post you offered rough plans to another fellow, do you care to extend that offer to me?
I have spent time fishing in your neighborhood, a beautiful valley with a lot of water running through it now I suspect. Thanks again for the great videos.
John, if you can send forth your email address we can get you some rough pencil sketches with dims out to you. Please visit our website, and enter the info & note into our contact page... we will take it from there. Thanks and good luck! Tim
Great design on this coop. I’m going to build a mobile coop for our operation. How many birds did you build this coop for? Will it hold 80-100 layers?
Not that many, 30 tops, but it could be build on a larger wagon to accommodate that many birds.
Hi Grant
Thank for all the videos, really nice to se people applying permaculture.
Do the new coop still hold as many chickens as the v1 ?
In advance thank you for your kind reply.
Anders - Denmark - Europe - Earth :)
Anders, thanks for the encouragement! Yes, we can still manage a flock of 50+ chickens in our coop 2.0 design. We didn't want to sacrifice potential flock size for reduced weight, so we made sure to keep that in mind during the design/build process.
Since you can clean it from the outside .. It dosent look like its tall. Do you get in and walk around ?
Hi Grant, Nice job. Question do you have an water system inside the chicken trailer
Good question. We currently do not, as we set up relatively effective and convenient water access points throughout our farm. One could, however, quite easily set up a watering system within the mobile coop to great effect, and we encourage you to go for it! Thanks for watching!
I am getting ready to build a mobile coop on an old hay wagon, this weekend. I have lots of questions! What is the dimensions of the overall coop. I am afraid of it being too heavy to pull around also, what type of wood did you use for walls and floors? Where are the feeders? I would like to use rain gutters and water barrels, but I am afraid they would be too heavy. On you water systems off the coop, are they rain water systems or near water for refilling easily? Your videos are a great help. I've already made some changes to my plans after watching!
Amanda,
Thanks for the inquiry.
Our two coops are built directly on the old hay wagon, so the flooring is the deck of the hay wagon itself. We use pine 2x4 framed walls on all four side, and a simple weather hardy sheeting on the outside. We have no water systems built in, as we have infrastructure on farm to insure daily delivery without much effort. Same with feeders... we introduce grain directly on the pastures for bird to scratch and peck, while doing their job with manure spreading and insect control. We pull our coops with an ATV, thought our lighter Coop 2 model can be pulled by hand on level surfaces. I may have some sketches of the coop 2 design, so let me know an email and I can try to send over. What else can I put forth. Thanks.
amandajturney@gmail.com Thanks! Do you have video on youtube showing your water system?
No... we have typical water faucets and frost free lines that we access in and around the farm. We deliver bucketed water to various poultry waterers for filling daily.
Version 2.0 is great. Nice job. I really like the ability to remove bedding from the outside. It appeared that the roosts were maybe a foot off the floor. How do you add the new bedding? What is the spacing between the roosts to allow the bedding to be added?
roosts are about 12" off ground and 12" apart. We simply access the side man door, and lay in straw biscuits from a 50# square bale. I can email rough 'to scale plans' if desired.
@@abcacres6413 Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
ABC acres please email me the rough plans. ant_cen@yahoo.com
Also when do you open the nesting boxes for the chicken to enter? Don't they lay at night? Thank you
New subscriber
Nice
we think so too!
Did you consider using an expanded sheet metal floor, so the droppings would fall directly onto the ground?
We did consider having something like that for exactly why you describe, but we ultimately decided against it for a few reasons that were relevant to our context. 1)We tend to place our chickens out on the edge of the property at different points, and did not want increased risk of loss from predators trying to potentially grab at them through any openings. The stories around here about what predators have been able to do to get chickens at crazy! 2)We wanted to ensure greater warmth for the chickens through the winter months; it was probably not an absolute necessity to give them the solid wood floor, but we wanted to give more comfort and reduce caloric expenditure on keeping themselves warm. 3)We use our chickens different ways, and as such there are times where the coop is parked out in one location for long enough periods of time where there would be too much buildup of manure in one concentrated area. Additionally, we don't always spread the manure and bedding around where the coop was, we also will take it and use it in our compost piles. Thanks for watching, and for the good question!
What are the dimensions of each nest box. And, are they totally outside the main coop, or do they stick a bit into the coop?
Scott, the nesting boxes are half in and half out of the coop wall. We have also seen versions where the nesting boxes are all the way outside of the coop, and seem to work well. The dimensions are approximately 12" x 12" x 15". Thanks for watching!
and....what do you charge for the build and delivery to my farm?
Bobby,
It has been a consideration of ours to make custom order chicken coops utilizing old hay wagons. The reality is that only relatively local destinations make financial sense. Where are you sitting? Shoot me a note with your email address, and I can send forth some rough plans we constructed the coop with. Thanks for the note!
Any chance you’ll make plans and cut list available?
Possibly not sure if we saved a cut list, also it'd be pretty dependent on the size of wagon you had.
ABC acres ah. But one could take plans and make trailer fit. ;-)
Love the chicken coup. Can you send some plans, much appreciated. Charles.elliott1004@gmail.com