subject: Mobile Chicken Coop - The Advantages Of Choosing A Mobile Chicken Coop [print this page] Mobile Chicken Coop - The Advantages Of Choosing A Mobile Chicken Coop
Lets just establish that a portable chicken coop is exactly what it sounds like and that is a house for your chickens that can quickly and easily be moved around from one place to another. Movable chicken coops come in all shapes and sizes but obviously the smaller they are the easier they are to move around. With larger mobile chicken coops you will probably need a trailer to move them, whilst smaller versions can be moved by hand. They can be a great choice if you are unsure where the best place to keep your chickens will be and you want to test it out, or if you know you will not be stopping in your current home long term. Being able to move the coop around in your back yard also means that your lawn or grassy areas have a chance to recover from the trampling of a flock of chickens and moving the portable coop and its run around on larger areas of grass can be a great way to keep it short without any effort on your part.You can also keep the cost of keeping chickens to a minimum if you are going to be housing your portable coop in a yard with plenty of grass. This is because greens are a staple part of your chickens' diet and therefore you can drastically reduce the amount of pre-mixed and store bought food your chickens will need. This will be particularly attractive to you if you want to keep chickens because your aim is to be more self sufficient or if you are looking for a low cost hobby. Don't forget that if you have beds that need fertilizing, then you can place your coop over these and let the chicken droppings do their job (it also reduces the amount of cleaning out you have to do).You can assemble a very basic chicken coop in a couple of hours and if you are organised, be up and running in a day.Learn how to build a portable chicken coop by getting hold of some free plans or designs off the internet, but remember that there are some disadvantages to opting for portable chicken coops. They are much more prone to predator attack unless you can make them safe - something that every chicken owner dreads. Predators are quite happy to spend time digging under the coop and the run to get at your chickens. So take the time to dig wire mesh below the walls of the coop and use it as flooring for the run itself. Your birds will still be able to snack on your back yard grass through the mesh and your beds will still benefit from the chicken droppings, but predators will not be able to get at them.
