Portable eggmobile that can easily be moved about in the field. With a portable coop, you move it to where ever you need it at the time.
When you’re deciding where to put your chicken coop, here are several things to consider:
Make the coop location convenient for you.
First, you want the coop close enough that it’s convenient for you to gather eggs and feed, water and care for them each day. So you don’t want it too far from your home. But at the same time, their manure can tend to bring flies, so you also don’t want it too close to your home. I’ve found that the more convenient it is to take care of the chickens, the better I care for them and the more I enjoy them.
For Texas, put the coop under some shade.
Second, consider what your chickens need in addition to feed and water. In Texas, they need shade during the heat. If you can position them under a tree of any kind that provides shade, that will keep them cooler in the summer. And in Texas, summer is the most difficult time to raise chickens.
Put the coop where it will benefit the rest of your farm.
Third, consider where and how they can be used symbiotically. In other words, where can I put them that they’ll benefit some other part of my homestead? Some great places to put them are:
- In the orchard — If you have fruit trees, not only can they provide shade, but your chickens will get some food by eating the fallen or low-hanging fruit. And they’ll also eat many of the bugs that would otherwise harm your fruit trees. Too, their manure will enrich the soil around the trees. So putting them in your orchard is a good place. They will unmulch your fruit trees, foraging for bugs, so consider using a portable coop / chicken tractor to contain them rather than give them free-range of the entire orchard.
- In your garden during the off-season — After your tomatoes or other crops are done, move your chickens into that part of your garden. They’ll clean up weed seeds and bugs. They’ll lightly aerate the soil. And they’ll leave manure behind that’ll benefit next season’s crops. A portable shelter is a great way to do this. Or use electric mesh netting as a flexible way to contain them in a particular part of the garden.
- On your pasture or lawn — This’ll fertilize your pasture, so that the feed you’re paying for does double-duty. I’ve seen a big improvement to our pasture from rotating our chickens through it in mobile, hoop coops. Another approach is to use an eggmobile. The key here is to not leave them in one place too long. I like to move them daily or every few days. This way, the grass gets to rest both from being eaten and trodden down and from their manure. Experiment with the number of chickens, size of coop and frequency with which you move them to get the right balance. You’ll find that it varies somewhat from season to season.
Black Australorp rooster in the pasture.
Location for a Stationary Coop
If you’re going to use a stationary coop, ideally position it beneath a large shade tree. And, if possible, use a paddock system or some type of portable fence or run around it so that you can give your chickens access to fresh pasture regularly. Fresh ground is one of the most important things you can do to help them stay healthy.
Portable Coops Offer More Flexibility
Better yet, use a portable house that you can move around from season to season, or as the needs of your homestead change. Put it in your garden in summer to clean up after spring garden crops have died off. Move it to your pasture during part of the year (or your lawn, which is essentially a small pasture). Move it into your orchard during the early spring before you start to see worms and other pests headed toward your fruit trees. With a portable coop, you don’t really have to decide up front where to put the coop. You move it where you need it at any given time. That’s been, in my experience, one of the best approaches.
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