Monday, April 18, 2011

Local Portable Chicken Coops

Meg called me while in Hillsborough at the Eno River Farmers Market about these chicken coops. The people that makes these coops is BassZac Poultry. I was pretty busy but managed to stop by to take a few photos. These chicken coops were very light and portable and not too expensive.

 This one was my favorite. It does have wheels in the back, weight was around 45 lbs.
 Pretty nice. Not so sure about being made out of 2 x 2s.  I'd make them with 2 x3s, just like sturdy and long lasting.


This coop has wheels too. Maybe one day I'll build one of these for our yard. Dot the Jack Russel Terrier does not like chickens, she would kill them for sure.

It is close to time to pull up the mustard and kale, most is going to seed. We got nearly 3 months worth of meals out of those greens. Our baby tomatoes and potatoes need homes in the garden. Potatoes are past time for planting almost.

For those of you wondering about the tornadoes in NC. We were passed by in Durham,Chapel Hill from what I'd heard and have not seen any damage. The tornadoes were the worst here since 1984. We are used to hurricanes every year or two, these storms were real bad. I lost my home to Hurricane Fran back in 1996, so I know the deal entirely.  Hoping all of those who have lost their loved ones and homes can get back to normal as quickly as they can. 

17 comments:

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

We were missed by the storm too. My daughter in RoRap had a tornado hit one block from her house. Terrible, deadly storm, many lost so much.
I like those coops too. The one at the top of the page is my favorite. Don't think chickens are in our future....HOA isn't keen on them.
Were you living in the same area as you are now when the Hurricane took your house???

Randy Emmitt said...

Janet,

I was living in Clayton, NC and my commute to work was an hour. After Fran dropped a huge white oak on my house I purchased this house north of Durham, NC much closer to work.

HOA glad we don't have that to deal with!

Andrea said...

glad you were out of the tornado site, i was actually thinking of my blogger friends when i saw that on TV. About the chicken coop, i find them cute and if only i have a handyman near us i can do that as a model. Did they also use the meshwire for flooring of the room?

Just Jenn said...

Ooo! Chicken coups! Those are some fun designs. I'd love chickens but not much point to it as I'm allergic to eggs. Heh. Still, I keep trying to talk my sister into getting them because they're so neat.

Glad to hear you weathered the storms! I've got family in Greensboro, Chapel Hill and Smithfield. They all came though just fine too - but what a scare!

Just Jenn said...

Ooops! That should've been chicken *coops*!

sweetbay said...

Glad to hear the rough weather passed you by! So many bad cells one can't help but feel lucky. Four Oaks south of us was hard hit. DH is a family doc and some of his patients' houses were levelled. A couple of nurses in his practice live in a neighborhood that was hit and they had to help people they knew with bad lacerations and fractures while they waited for EMS ~ the roads had to be cleared of fallen trees before the ambulances could get there.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I heard about the tornadoes in NC, so scary. Glad you are safe there.
I love all the different chicken coops. I wish we had space for them, maybe someday.

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Glad to hear that the horrific storms passed you by, but so sorry for those that were so severely affected.

Portable chicken coops are great. We have 2 different styles here that we built, and without them we'd lose a lot of chickens to our native wildlife. We actually do use 2x2 redwood. Much larger than that it can get quite heavy. We also can't use chicken wire, but instead use 1/2" hardware cloth, as some enterprising raccoons can reach through chicken wire, and mice can get through. Always fun to see all the different designs though. We have one that fits perfectly over our fallow raised garden beds, so when not in use, the chickens can amend the soil ;)

Pat said...

Didn't Fran cause billions in damage in NC ? No lives lost I think.
Can't imagine losing your home to one and the fear of living through one or more.
Wishing all the best for this season.
....
Love those coops ! Wonder what else you can use them for...kinda pretty.

D said...

Randy, happy to hear all is well with you and Meg. We have often thought of moving to NC, but I'm not sure now. ;)

The coops are great and I would love to have one, but perhaps it's time for me to think about less not more. :) Interesting that one of them looks like a miniature hoop house.

Q said...

I came to check on you and yours. So happy you are okay. I live in tornado alley and know how damaging the tornadoes can be. Sounds as if your kitchen garden is doing great. Ours is still in the sprout stage. It is 45 degrees and tonight is to be into the mid 30's.....too cold for tomatoes.
Great looking coops.
I want to have a couple of bee hives. Learning about beekeeping and just what is involved.
Sherry

meemsnyc said...

Those coop designs look interesting. I like the ones that have wheels, so you can move it around the property. Are you raising chickens?

greggo said...

Got your link from Frances at Fairgarden. I have a clematis I need to ID, she refered me to you. I will send you a photo when it blooms. Bought it at a discount in the fall. I thought it died so I misplaced the tag. lol.

Karen said...

Hello Randy & Meg, so glad to hear you didn't have any damage from the tornadoes. I've only lived through one of those so far, and that was enough for several lifetimes; I'll take a blizzard any day instead.

The chicken coops are very interesting, we've talked about building something similar for our little flock so they can get around the yard without destroying the little annuals when I first plant them out. What an array of different types, should be one there to accommodate almost any yard. Thanks for the plans!

Caroline Gill said...

The storms sound so awful, but I am glad that you are not in their flight path, Randy. Love the new 5 star chicken houses!

Victoria Williams said...

Good to hear you're safe.
The only drawback I see about those coops is hoping a dog doesn't dig into them.

Skeeter said...

Glad to hear the storms passed you by. We were lucky as they skipped us as well. We had a lot of wind damage prior to this storm though. They are still cleaning up the mess around town...

Our neighbor saw some portable chicken coops and was telling me about them. From what I could tell, I bet these are the ones she was talking about. She said my hubby and hers could make some for us. It was just a thought and we backed off after realizing we both travel too much to tend chickens. I am seeing more and more garden bloggers with chickens though….