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I've considered chickens for many years, but always had some reason (including deed restrictions!) that kept me from them. As my granddaughter got old enough to help feed, water, and gather eggs, she asked her Grammie if we could have chickens. Grammie said yes, so I immediately started working on a small chicken-tractor. To be somewhat affordable, the coop is only 4' x 4' (enough for 4 hens) and the covered run is 48 square feet (4' x 12'). Everything except the bottom frame is based on using 8' 2" x 2" lumber, both for weight and affordability. The coop is made from 3/8" plywood (2 sheets), with a 3/4" treated plywood floor with the other half of the sheet used for the nesting boxes. The coop and the run are covered with translucent white polycarbonate roofing sheets.
I started planning initially for a rolling tractor with the wheels on the back of the coop. After doing the math on the weight (120 pounds just for the plywood). I decided that I needed to use retractable wheels instead that could be further up the frame to balance the weight. I started with a sketch to get an idea about dimensions-- you can still see the erased rear wheel! I've also done a little math and some initial work on a materials list!
From there, I started doing elevations/orthogonal drawings. The elevations show all the framing and dimensions for the plywood. Double check any measurements for building, both to be sure they make sense AND that any pieces you cut fit where they are supposed to go! I may have corrected something that was an error in the drawing as I built.
The next illustration is the front and rear elevation for the coop portion. The scale for all the drawing is 1 square = 3". That made it easy to draw 1.5" actual sizes for 2" x 2" or 2" x 4" lumber. The highlighted (yellow) section is not part of the coop build but is the run frame.
This image is the coop, from the side view. You can see a left-over highlight still shows where I changed the frame to accommodate retractable wheels rather than the rear-mounted wheel. There is a top-hinged awning door on the side windows. It can be folded flat in the fully opened position or angled to provide wind/rain protections at various angles. The window frames themselves are hinged to swing up and out to allow access to the interior of the coop below the roosts. More detail on the swing out windows is later in the photos.
For the run frame, I used 2" x 4" x 12' to form the bottom rail. I bought 16' boards, since they were much better grain and had almost no knots. I used the 4' sections (trimmed to size) taken off each of the 16' boards as the ends of the frame. I used another treated 2"x4" x 8' to support across the frame where the coop would rest. There are several diagonal braces that I ended up not using. A plywood section on the front of the frame (not to scale on the drawing) and the fact that the frame was ultimately secured firmly to the coop made it rigid enough. You can see that the coop section fits down onto the frame. There is a small section of the coop shown to indicate position.
Next, I have the cut plan and drawings for the external nest boxes. This was made from the other half of the treated 3/4" plywood sheet. It has minimal framing, so I used the heavier plywood to be self-supporting. It was this size to maximize use of the plywood-- but if I did it again, I might make it narrower. As it is, the nest boxes are slightly wider than deep. This is another spot where the framing for the wall of the nest box was adjusted to fit actual rather than plan!
Again, a disclaimer: These plans are believed to be reasonably accurate, but make your own measurements when fitting internal cross-pieces, doors, etc.
Now, to the pictures of the build. I started by framing the sides of the coop module. There are two each of the sides. I used a power nail gun with two 16-guage 2-1/2" nails and a 3" deck screw on every 2" x 2" joint. I used two handled corner clamps on every 90-degree joint before fastening.
For the bottom of the coop, I secured two cross-pieces between each corner. You can see the clamps on the second photo below. Then the roof and floor framing crossbars were added at the measured/plan distances. Since the roof is sloped, I used a scrap of wood clamped below the location for the rafters, then clamped the rafter to that scrap. I have a later photo for the run framing that demonstrates. That completed the basic framework for the coop.
The floor was the next addition. Again, it is 48" x 48" x 3/4" treated plywood. Each of the corners is notched slightly more than 1.5" to allow for the vertical posts of the coop frame. It was fastened to the frame using 1.5" 18-gauge narrow crown staples and 2" decking screws. If everything is measured, cut, and assembled correctly, the sheet will tap down onto the floor frame. (I had to recut, because I falsely assumed the plywood sheet was exactly 48" x 96"... it was slightly long.)
Next was the frame for the external nest boxes. After installing the verticals, I used a tie-down strap to clamp the cross-brace into place. The frames for the side windows were constructed the same way. Fasten the verticals in place based on measured location, then clamp the crossbars using a strap.
The front frame is made to support the upper ventilation window as well as provide a spot for the roost bars to rest. The top of the nest box frame is the support on the back wall of the coop. The roosts are above the substantial windows on the side and below the open ventilation across the front of the coop.
Once all the coop framing was done, I could add the 3/8" plywood sheathing. I filled any knots or surface voids in both sides of the plywood, then primed, then painted, then painted again. The plywood was pretty rough, and expensive to boot. The ideal with all the filling, priming, and painting was to make the surfaces as durable as possible. Even the treated floor was primed and painted. Here you can see the front, with a large opening at the top for ventilation and another opening for the automatic pop-door. Openings for the side doors were cut carefully using a hand-held scroll saw, since the inner cuts would be reused for the doors. Finally, the opening for the external nest boxes on back.
Here you can see the side window covers/doors. The trim is 1" x 3" around the edges, with 1" x 2" across the middle. The trim helps keep the relatively thin plywood from warping. The covers can be partially opened in awing position or can be fully open. I added screen door hooks to hold the doors at the top. For awning use, they have plastic Bimini Top hardware for boats, with an appropriately sized (5/8") dowel rod as a support. You can see that the trim overlaps the edges of the door and that the door itself fits inside the opening to provide a good closure. Not shown is a removable (Velcro) 1" x 4" to help hold bedding inside the coop windows. It removes easily to clean the coop floor.
That completes the major portion of the standalone coop module. There's still some framing for the wire below, and for the windows. More on that later. The next step is to start on the framing for the run portion of the tractor.
The floor for the run is built on a 12' treated 2" x 4" with 24" centers for the cross braces. There were no cross braces in the area that will go under the coop and I later took out one cross brace because it was a trip hazard getting in and out of the door. I used the floor as a scaffold for building the side walls as well.
The sides were built with a shallow sloping roof of 1.5" rise for 12" run. That's actually 7.13 degrees, but I set the miter saw to 7 degrees. The tops of the sidewall studs were cut using a power miter-saw. The side walls were clamped, nailed, and screwed to the bottom frame.
The run top is framed with cross-supports, rafters, on 24-inch centers. The roof cross braces on the run were hung at a slight angle, to match the run of the roof. Like the coop roof, a scrap of 2" x 2" was clamped to the rafter, then hung on the side wall and clamped. That allows the rafter to be fastened in place with the top of the board on the same slope as the roof. The second photo shows that technique in process.
The run frame was finished with a 2" x 4" across the front to mount the stabilizing plywood and support for the hitch. You can also see that the effective thickness of the bottom frame is now approximately a laminated 2" x 6" between the 2" x 4" of the bottom rail and the 2" x 2" wall frame. With the major frames finished, more priming and painting is the next step.
While waiting on paint to dry... (exciting times!) I was able to go back to more work on coop module details. I used a 4' x 4' piece of vinyl floor roll to cover the coop floor. That should help to make cleaning relatively trouble free. I also finished the fold up windows. These photos show the doors both fully open, fully closed, and with the exterior door in awning position from the inside. Of course, more priming and painting was needed. The detail for the hanger bolt hinges and the thumbscrew retaining bolts are shown, as well.
There was more priming and painting on the outside of the coop as well. The automatic door was installed, and a ramp built (using some extra cedar fence boards). The cleats were cut by ripping fence boards into 3/4" widths on a table saw. The door has a 6-volt lantern battery and should last at least a year. even with cold weather. It can be configured either by timer or by light levels. The purple color is my granddaughter's second favorite color. Grammie said she couldn't have her most favorite color, which is pink. I used 1/2" hardware cloth to cover the top ventilation. I just happened to have an extra piece that would fit. The corner trim I put on the front edges of the coop later had to be removed since I (briefly) forgot that the run would fasten directly to the coop wall. You can also see the 2" x 4" roost bars that go across the coop.
Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the nest box in progress. This is the box in place, secured into the floor and through the back of the coop. It has a bottom-hinged door to help prevent leaks. There is a lip on the front to keep bedding out of the boxes and a removable lip on the rear of each box to keep nesting material in the box when it is opened.
Next up is the retractable wheel mechanism. I used Harbor Freight 10" pneumatic wheels with 5/8" x 6" bolts for the wheels' axle. The lifting axle, through the run frame, is 5/8" all-thread, cut to a 12" length initially, then trimmed after installing. I included some 5/8" shaft bearings from Amazon, with the rotating surface toward the flat side of the 1" square steel tube. The frame is reinforced with a 2" x 6" for the axle and there is extra framing on run to support sideways pressure on lift. This part of the run frame is fastened to the front wall of the coop. The brace gives additional support, keeping the wheel and axle straight when elevated. There is a hole through the lift bar, into the brace, for a toggle pin that keeps the bar secure when the wheel is up. (I realized when posting this that there is no picture of the inside of the frame where the all-thread is secured. It has a normal flat washer, a lock washer, and then has two nuts, the second serving as a jam nut.)
If I do this coop again, I will put the axle behind the front edge of the coop. When elevated, the wheels are essentially at the coop, and the weight balance is slightly to the rear. It would pull better with a bit more of the coops weight forward on the hitch.
This shows the run frame fastened to the front of the coop. The coop's legs rest on the rear portion of the frame, then the front wall of the coop is screwed securely to the back edge of the run frame. I used L-bracket hardware on the legs to provide additional support. The ramp rests on one of the cross-supports so it can be moved without dragging. The first photo also shows all the awning window covers in place with the wooden dowel holders (using Bimini hardware). The coop portion itself is completely finished, with a polycarbonate sheet roof that will allow some light transmission, so the coop isn't too dark. I also later fastened some of the excess roof sheeting to the nest box to provide a little extra protection from sun and rain.
We are in the home stretch now! I used 16-gauge 1"x 1/2" "rabbit wire" on all the main framework. It is secured to the frame with numerous 1" narrow-crown staples from a power stapler. There was some trimming involved, but minimal, since the wire was a 24"-inch-wide roll. Installing the wire is way more easily said than done, but it wasn't difficult. It was less tedious than all the priming and painting!
The run doors were simple frames, covered with wire, and then hung with 3" utility hinges and secured with a 3" hasp and a D-clip. There are doors on both sides so that the food and water as well as the pop-door controls can all be reached without climbing into the run.
The coop is completed with the addition of the polycarbonate sheeting on the run. I predrilled the holes, then fastened with 1" hex-head roofing screws with rubber washers. It has four, 4-inch PVC pipes with a cup waterer on each cylinder. The capacity of each tube is 5 quarts. The hanging feeder is a 7-pound, top fill, plastic Harris Farms twist-lock feeder. Doors and the nest box are secured with 2-1/2" hasps and 2" D-clips. The Side and front doors have screen door hooks to hold in the fully open position. There is 16 square feet of inside coop space and 48 square feet of run space.
Getting the 7-week-old chicks into the coop the first two nights after being in the run took extra effort, even though they'd been restricted to the coop for two weeks. To solve that problem, I added the top part of a small 5W solar path light to the roof of the coop. The rubber band on the light is to provide some friction so it doesn't slide off the roof. The roofing is translucent, so it transmits enough of the light through the roof to make the coop brighter than outside and the chicks will put themselves to bed.
Conclusions
Lessons learned is that there is always more priming and painting than I want to do-- but the time spent should pay off in durability! I also could have made the run and the coop a bit taller, but the trade-off it more of expensive materials would have been needed. In this case, the coop is high enough to scrape out the litter into my garden trailer. At 6'6" tall, I can't easily get inside the run, but I am able to reach everything I need through the doors. The coop appears to be ventilated well enough, there is no ammonia smell and when in the shade the inside temperature doesn't get any warmer than the outside temperature. It is a small coop, there's no room for chicken math... that's just something I will have to accept.
There were lots of steps, not complicated, but it did require some attention to detail. It certainly isn't the cheapest possible coop, but it should last for many years. I loved building it, though I wouldn't do it for just anyone-- or for profit. My granddaughter is already looking forward to collecting eggs and was very excited to hear the young cockerel making his attempts at crowing. This chicken tractor is already worth every cent I spent in building it and I'm looking forward to years of having a few backyard chickens!
Update: I've considered that both for weight and cost, it might be possible to make the coop floor and the egg boxes from 1/2" plywood and make the walls out of 1/4" plywood. It would be more fragile but would also be a bit lighter. If I made it that way, I would leave the wheel where it is now, though.
