Broken Ground Farm

Introducing our chicken coop on wheels. We purchased the plans from Cotton River Farm. We choose this coop because it could be moved and because of the nesting box. The eggs would roll down to us. They wouldn’t get dirty from the hens nesting on them. We didn’t want the chickens to be stationary. It is not fun for them or us. They needed to get fresh grass and scratch at things and eat bugs. Moving them was good for the chickens and keeps smell down. This was a great time for us as we worked together to build this coop. It was the first “real” coop we have had. It was so fun to work together and see the coop begin to take shape. Everyone was excited.

Once the coop was finished, it was time for chickens. We purchased Sapphire Gems from a local farm store. This purchase, we were told, was 8 hens. All we wanted was eggs. Surprise! We had 2 roosters in the bunch!

We kept these sweet babies in our home with food, water, and a heat lamp until they were old enough to go outside. Oh my. Not for the faint of heart. These cluckers are cute. The kids loved having them inside. It was great for watching them grow. Under supervision the kids were allowed to hold them. This helped the chickens be familiar with us and not so stand-offish.

Things learned:

1. Farm stores don’t always have it right. Like I said, 2 males. Chicks are hard to know the gender when they are really young. Someone somewhere along the way messed up. We purchased 6 hens and 2 roosters.
2. Kids love to name animals. The names won’t always make sense. My happy boy named two: Velociraptor and Colorful. My lovey boy named his Stripe and Mini Stripe. (Fun note, he unknowingly named both roosters. Mini Stripe grew bigger than Stripe. Sadly we had to cull Stripe. Mini Stripe is now affectionately called King Stripe.) Sunshine girl named hers Chick-Chick and Peppermint. (Sadly, Peppermint was culled as well.) The last C.N.R. (my husband) and I named. They were Eileen and Poppy.
3. Culling is not fun for anyone. Our birds were culled due to their physical limitations. They were unable to walk properly for whatever reason (we tried several things to help them regain ability) Since they could not walk, they were at risk for being picked on by the others and being hurt when the coop was moved, and they could not eat and drink enough since they could not get to the food source. This was done quickly and to relieve suffering.
4. They are small, but loud. They will cheep and peep. Be ready.
5. Think you are tired of wiping kids butts? How about a chicken butt? “What’s up chicken butt?” Poop. They don’t care where they poop. They will poop in food and in water. When they are young and can’t preen themselves sometimes this will lead to a blocked vent. Poopies get stuck on the backside and they can’t help it. Can’t clean it, can’t poop, can’t poop, can’t live. Multiple occasions C.N.R. would be found with gloves on, warm water, a washcloth, and would have to clean baby chicken backsides. They are not fond of this, but it works.
6. Get ready for the dust. We had them in a plastic box with bedding. Bedding has to be changed. This keeps the smell down. The older they get, the more they scratch and the more the bedding is moved. And this makes the dust. I could go to clean and see a layer of chicken scratch dust on things that were near the box. Not fun to breath or clean.

Fast forward to a finished coop and egg laying birds.

The metal trash can hold our chicken feed. We scoop it out into into the chicken feed bucket using a dog food scoop.

Back view with wheels. This is the nesting box.

Front view with the door open. You can see where the chicken enter the laying box. The rope in front of the coop is used to pull the coop when the wheels are engaged.

Here is the latch system. Also, the printed and laminated name list. Each color name coordinates with a colored leg band. This let us know which chicken the kids named and keep track of how each chicken was acting.

This is the latch system on the inside. Pull the ring to open the latched door from the inside. The blue handle is 3D printed. King Stripe was not happy to have me in his space when I took this photo and charged my leg. It was essentially a chest bump to my leg from a rooster. A good reminder to always be aware.

Hanging water bucket with nipples. The tube on the outside is a gauge that C.N.R. added so we can tell roughly how much water they have without opening the lid every time.

Feed bucket with 4 total feeding areas added.

These buckets get heavy. It is easier to move the coop after taking buckets down. If the coop is moved with buckets attached, we have to stop them swinging so they don’t accidentally take down a chicken.

After months of care and waiting, we got our first egg. We were very excited. Their egg production took off quicker than we expected, which was nice. Now we gather 5 eggs on a typical day.

Peek-a-boo hen!

Here we can see how the eggs roll down the ramp in the nesting box to be gathered. Mostly poo free. For those who may be counting, 6 eggs, 5 hens. One egg didn’t get collected the previous day.

So, here is it. Our chicken set up. What to do different? We would get a white tarp instead of a black one.