Designing & Building the FFF Mobile Coop

It's always been a dream of ours to have laying hens since we started Forts Ferry Farm, and this year we made it happen! Being our first experience with chickens, we got 4 different breeds, hoping to learn more about which types work best for our operation and climate.

Partridge Plymouth RockThe first Plymouth Rock was bred by D.A. Upham of Worcester, MA in 1869. The partridge coloring came from breeders introducing partridge cochin chickens into their Plymouth Rock lines sometime in the late 1800s. They are decen… — **Partridge Plymouth Rock**
The first Plymouth Rock was bred by D.A. Upham of Worcester, MA in 1869. The partridge coloring came from breeders introducing partridge cochin chickens into their Plymouth Rock lines sometime in the late 1800s. They are decent foragers and do not slow down laying eggs quite as much as other breeds during the winter months. The Plymouth Rock breed dates back to the Civil War era, when an earlier breed, the Dominique, was crossed with solid black hens. The resulting chicken was heavier and a solid dual purpose type for meat and egg production. Up until World War II, the Plymouth Rock was the most common chicken in the United States, according to Mother Earth News.

Black SumatraOriginally from the Isles of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo in Indonesia, the Sumatra chicken was first imported into the United States in April 1847 by J.A.C. Butters of Roxybury, MA. Although not heavy egg producers (about 100 or so eggs a… — **Black Sumatra**
Originally from the Isles of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo in Indonesia, the Sumatra chicken was first imported into the United States in April 1847 by J.A.C. Butters of Roxybury, MA. Although not heavy egg producers (about 100 or so eggs annually), Sumatra chickens are very quick and alert and will help to keep our flock aware of any nearby predators.

New Hampshire RedProfessor ‘Red’ Richardson developed this breed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts around 1910 as a separate strain of the Rhode Island Red chicken in an effort to develop a better dual purpose hen with faster feather growth and mat… — **New Hampshire Red**
Professor ‘Red’ Richardson developed this breed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts around 1910 as a separate strain of the Rhode Island Red chicken in an effort to develop a better dual purpose hen with faster feather growth and maturity. In 2018, a petition organized by the Canaan Elementary School was presented to the Governor of New Hampshire to make the New Hampshire Red the official state bird. The Governor signed it into law the same year. They are robust, sturdy hens and are good egg layers of around 200 large tinted/light brown eggs per year.

Blue Cuckoo MaransOriginated from Marans, France, the Marans breed are from a now untraceable mix of chickens left in the town by seafarers in the 12th century, and they had made their way to America only a few decades ago. Blue Cuckoo Marans have b… — **Blue Cuckoo Marans**
Originated from Marans, France, the Marans breed are from a now untraceable mix of chickens left in the town by seafarers in the 12th century, and they had made their way to America only a few decades ago. Blue Cuckoo Marans have bluish grey plumage with lightly feathered legs, and are decent foragers. These hens may lay an average of 180 beautiful dark brown eggs each year. Fun fact - author Ian Fleming identified Marans eggs as the egg most preferred by James Bond.

Our new chicks soon began outgrowing their brood pen, so we needed to build a cozy, safe coop for them. After lots of research sifting through source imagery and figuring out the do’s and don’ts of coop design, we settled on a 4-walled mobile coop with a single pitch roof. We sourced the brood boxes, the feeders, and the electric fencing from Premier One Supplies, and the automatic chicken door from Chicken Guard. All other materials were sourced or built locally.

We wanted to keep this as simple as possible, and our top priorities were:

Keep the predators OUT
Provide plenty of airflow during the warmer months, and seal it up when it gets cold
Provide plenty of natural light
Make it easy to clean, and easy to harvest eggs.

Starting with a beefy old running gear we scored from Craigslist for cheap, we built a pressure treated platform with vented slats so that chicken droppings can fall down to the ground, and fresh air can make its way up through the coop.

Next we erected the walls, just high enough so that we can walk through, about 6.5 feet at the highest point. We framed in two 4-feet brood boxes and altered them a bit so they can be accessed from outside the coop through the custom built doors.
For windows, we used some leftover Polycarbonate sheeting from a previous greenhouse project - strong, durable, insulative, and light! These windows have built in props, easy to prop open during the day, and seal shut at night.

The exterior siding is 1x6 rough sawn larch, the same exact material we used to build our pasture fencing. Larch is untreated and naturally pest/water resistant, so like pressure treated wood, it won’t swell/warp/crack like many other natural lumber products.

We ran the boards high and trimmed them down with a chainsaw to make a flush plane with the top edge of the walls.

Next we framed the roof in with beefier 2x6 trusses to hopefully withstand heavy snow loads. We topped the roof off with a .5in. insulation foam to help deflect some heat and finished with galvanized corrugated sheeting.

On the inside we built 2 2x4 perches, which can swing upward and fasten to the ceiling for easy cleaning… and we finished up by patching any gaps and seams with chicken wire to keep the critters at bay.

This coop is sized to hold about 60 chickens, but as our farm grows and our egg production increases we plan on building another coop to match! As the chickens exhaust the ground of grubs and weed seeds, just load them up and move them to fresh pastures.