Project Information
Built this two summers ago when we decided to do the backyard chicken thing and ordered ten baby chicks. They came in a small box, at the post office, the day after they hatched. Kinda trippy. But I digress.
Built mostly from plans bought online, but I'd change stuff if I were to do it again. Overall dimensions 8×6, 2×4 frame construction, insulated (in Virginia? Seriously? yeah, that over-engineering thing again…). The front panel (under the nesting box lids) folds out and the nesting box array is free-floating on the floor and thus removable, so in theory you can get it good and opened up for the occasional deep cleanout (optionally involving a hose, as the floor material (Duradek) is waterproof).
First pic is the relatively finished product. Two years later I still haven't managed to get the whole thing painted yet (see comment in previous project post regarding "good enough"...), and we recently moved to a bigger property so this summer I added some wheels underneath so it could be moved around and such. That was a project by itself, finding and attaching wheels big enough for the size/weight. Would you believe this thing weighs over a ton? I wasn't planning on moving anytime soon when I built it, or I would have thought that one through a bit more…
Second pic shows the free-floating nesting box array.
Third pic shows it on wheels, after it was moved to the new place.
Fourth pic shows it after I used the tractor to put it in place and set up the fencing so the girls could finally get out. Happy hens, happy farmer.
Built mostly from plans bought online, but I'd change stuff if I were to do it again. Overall dimensions 8×6, 2×4 frame construction, insulated (in Virginia? Seriously? yeah, that over-engineering thing again…). The front panel (under the nesting box lids) folds out and the nesting box array is free-floating on the floor and thus removable, so in theory you can get it good and opened up for the occasional deep cleanout (optionally involving a hose, as the floor material (Duradek) is waterproof).
First pic is the relatively finished product. Two years later I still haven't managed to get the whole thing painted yet (see comment in previous project post regarding "good enough"...), and we recently moved to a bigger property so this summer I added some wheels underneath so it could be moved around and such. That was a project by itself, finding and attaching wheels big enough for the size/weight. Would you believe this thing weighs over a ton? I wasn't planning on moving anytime soon when I built it, or I would have thought that one through a bit more…
Second pic shows the free-floating nesting box array.
Third pic shows it on wheels, after it was moved to the new place.
Fourth pic shows it after I used the tractor to put it in place and set up the fencing so the girls could finally get out. Happy hens, happy farmer.