Progress on the New Chicken Palace

I have had a lot going on in the past few weeks and I finally had time to get to work on new accommodations for my chickens.  The new chicken coop is being built on an old trailer frame that I had intended to make into something else.  It wasn't quite right for it's originally intended purpose but for a chicken palace it could be just perfect.

 It will be easy to move and can even travel with me if I ever move to new property.  It will be much sturdier than the original chicken coop so I shouldn't have to worry about the wind taking off with it again.  I am reusing the cattle panels from the original coop and whatever I could glean from salvaging the trailer.  I want this to be a place where the chickens can be comfortable no matter what the weather outside is doing.

I started by building the basic frame directly on top of the trailer frame.  Because of the way the trailer is designed I had to use two different widths of lumber to make the floor level.  My math was a bit off though so each end sits a little lower than the main part of the floor.  This difference won't really matter because I have to build the ends separate from the side walls anyway.

I am going with hardware cloth for the floor so that cleaning out poop should be a non-issue.  In theory it will just fall through the floor (or get pushed through by chicken feet).  Every few weeks I can just move the coop to a new area to lessen the buildup of poop under the coop.  The chickens will be able to move around under the coop so it will give them an extra layer of area to do their thing in.  The open floor will also allow good air circulation in the summer and I can close it in with straw bales in the winter for added insulation.  The hardware cloth is also extra protection from predators.  It will be nice to be able to really lock the girls up for the night again once this project is finished.

Once the hardware cloth was secured to the frame I bolted the wood to the metal trailer using carriage bolts.  At this stage I also salvaged the wheel wells from the original camper.  They were glued between sheets of plywood so I used a sawzall to cut them off the floor at ground level.  I then cut flaps into three sides and folded them out so that they would sit on the new wooden frame.   Once I was happy with the fit I screwed them into place.

They might not look pretty, but they are functional and they will keep critters from getting into the coop from around the wheels.  I will probably end up building boxes around them to protect the chicken's feet from the sharp metal edge.  The boxes will also support roosting bars on either side of the pen.

The next stage was installing the cattle panel walls that will be the framework for the final structure.

I installed the middle panel first because it had fewer places where I could attach it to the floor.  The end panels overlap the center panel by a few inches and will hopefully help keep everything firmly in place.  At this stage the structure is a bit wobbly, but once I secure each end with plywood panels it should become much more rigid.

I will be using galvanized roofing metal to make the final covering for the coop.  After struggling with plastic coverings for the last couple of years I want to use something much more permanent.  I am tossing around the idea of using a couple of clear polycarbonate panels to let in a little more light on the sides, but they are very expensive and I don't want to turn the coop into an oven in the summertime.  I might reuse some of the windows from the old trailer and install them in the plywood ends to allow better ventilation and to allow a little light in from a different angle.

Since I have been having so many issues with predators lately I really want to get this project finished.  I am now at the stage where I will need two people to keep building the structure.  Luckily I know several people that are willing to help.  Hopefully it will only be a few more days until my chickens have a sturdy new home.