When we bought the house there was an older (though not old) chicken coop behind the garage. We had chickens at the old house, but left everything there when we moved. I figured in time I would fix up the coop and get chickens at the new place.

That time has come. It was sitting in a low spot, no way was I getting any sort of tractor down in there to move the coop. I could wiggle it with a long prybar, but all my blocking kept pushing into the mud. So I dug trenches in from the sides and used a floor jack on a 2x8 to raise it up and got timbers under. Several blocks under each corner and I have the base out of the muck where it can hopefully dry out a bit.

There is plenty of work to do. Probably have to replace the lower parts of the inner walls, the floor and the siding. I definitely want to add more overhang to the roof.

And the little things to make it easier to maintain and take care of. Egg boxes accessible from the outside. Check out the electrical. Here's a few pics.

looks fun--keep us updated

sound like you might want to build new , keep us posted

There's more right with it than wrong. The bottom is all treated and has held up well. The floor and walls are just OSB, so not much work to cut them out and replace them. Everything else is more cosmetic than functional.

It is going to be a long term project. Not planning to put chickens in until next spring, though plans may change.

Following

I finally got time to move the coop from its muddy home. With the cold weather and no snow, the conditions were perfect. The ground was hard enough for the jack not to sink in too much. The wife and I used plywood sheets and 4 inch pvc as rollers. It took a few hours of pushing, jacking and moving rollers. At the end we could use the truck to pull it up the last little rise.

It's near it's final resting spot. At least now it won't be in ankle deep muck and the flood plain of the creek.


Tools used

Nice project! I wonder why they put it in that crappy location to begin with?

I had to move my coop with the lake coming up by me, I used Handyman jacks, planks and telephone poles to slide it across the poles to higher ground.

I have one that size for Starting young birds. But one much larger for the flock usually 12 to 16
And a large outdoor run wrapped in chicken wire buried 2' otherwise the hawks get them here.

There is an equation on coop size and number of birds . Space matters

Have fun with your build

Chick Hilton on the left, 4X8 brooder house on the right.

Looks a little like mine. Was rough too

I put a indoor, outdoor quail cage, with a window on hinges that closes for winter. Chickens have the run of the rest.

I built my 6 x 6 coop on treated 4 x 4's with the ends beveled at 45 degrees and attached 1/2" eye bolts through the framing. The 4 x 4's act as skids. Attach chain or rope to the eye bolts and its easy to pull around with the tractor.



This is the backside, you can see the skids and eye bolts.

Nice Coops

Nice hen houses! Keep us posted on the restoration.

Law Dog >>> nice ocean front property also.

Big shallow lake most years it froze out in the past it came up several feet so it will hold fish for a few years now, carp, bullheads and a few cats they dumped perch last summer not seen any yet to small maybe.

It’s nice to see the geese coming out the back window then shoot them off of the front porch. That was fun until a BB came down on the wife’s windshield. LOL

Same here,law dog. With all the rain the last few years, we've hit the 100 year flood mark on the creek a few times. The coop may very well have been in a decent spot when we had a stretch of dry years. Had a friend offer the use of his tractor, but the ground is still too soft under the little bit of frost we have. My little garden tractor isn't quite up to the job.
My coop won't move at all, it'll be up on pilings so the bottom can get airflow. It's about 8x8, so should be good for at least a dozen or so birds. Maybe 15. I'm not looking for production. More just eggs for us and my parents. Maybe a few extra.
Again, it'll be a long project, but I need to get it done by spring.
Thanks for the pics, they provide some good ideas.

Lug, is the little hutch for the guineas? That's a nice coop.

Thanks K Snow.

That's an old rabbit hutch. We use it to raise chicks until they are big enough for general population.

Neighbor had a bobcat with pallet forks but if you tried to lift the coop the front tires sunk and the lift advantage was lost. The coop has skids so they slid sideways on the light poles easier that way it still made a mess but we got it moved. Had we not gotten it moved it would be in the lake now.

You could have waited and floated it to its new location! LOL