Here's another of the many "getting ready for winter" tasks we've been doing: Last Saturday we moved the portable hen house (the "eggmobile") from the spot up on the hill where it sat all summer back down to the farmstead. We did this so it would be close to power and water, and easier for us to clear snow out of the way so we can gather eggs.
The spot we had the eggmobile in last winter -- in a fenced paddock next to the pond, below the dog yards -- turned out to be a disaster come springtime when we wanted to take it out to new pasture. It was so muddy we couldn't move it with the tractor, and a neighbor came over with his skidsteer on tracks to help move it ... and couldn't. He finally brought over his small excavator with big tracks and that's how we got it out of the paddock and up on to drive.
Having learned that lesson the hard way and with next spring in mind, we picked a much firmer, level spot close to the barn for this winter. In the photo I'm moving the eggmobile with pallet forks on the tractor -- we have a hole in one tip of a pallet fork and put a trailer hitch ball through it, and hook on to the eggmobile that way. (It's built on an old trailer chassis so it has a tongue with a ball hitch.) It's much more maneuverable with the tractor this way than hitching it to one of the pickup trucks, and lets us get into fairly tight places.
To "home" the girls in their new location, we leave them on board for about 48 hours before opening the door to let them out for foraging. The eggmobile has power on board for lights, and at this time of year we plug in the trailer so we can turn on the lights for the early evening darkness (more "daylight" helps with the laying).
We had this eggmobile back in Montana and it made the trip to New Hampshire, too. We simply pulled it up onto our 24' flatbed trailer, chickens and all, and one of the drivers who was hauling for us that year drove it out. He said he got the strangest looks when he pulled into truck stops -- people would see this odd-looking structure on wheels with chickens looking out the windows.
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I loved this blog about the eggmobile, especially the cross country trip and people's reactions to it and the chickens looking out the windows! I have kind of wondered what the chickens were thinking.
Posted by: Kathy Greene | November 16, 2012 at 10:17 AM
We moved our chickens from Kingston,(crossed Puget Sound on the ferry) to Lake County California in the back of a pickup truck. The girls laid eggs all along the way. We gave eggs away at rest stops. Mr. Rooster clung to the window frame of the camper shell (don't ask me how) and crowed at cars passing by. Talk about getting the funnyooks. It was a hoot.
Posted by: Reta Davis | November 15, 2012 at 10:44 PM
Mike, we move the chickens because if you leave them in one area too long, they can be very hard on the ground -- too much scratching, too much manure in one spot, etc. Better for the land to spread all that out in different spots over the course of a year.
Posted by: Steve Smith | November 13, 2012 at 09:09 PM
Why do you move the chickens around on the farm?
Posted by: Mike Marshall | November 12, 2012 at 12:04 PM
Seeing the chickens in the traveling coop was probably startling enough, but more so because there were little, tiny signs requesting help - in (sorry, I can't help it) chickenscratch....
Posted by: Shirley & dachshunds Gracie, Sunnie, Dieter | November 11, 2012 at 01:51 PM
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!
I wish I could have seen those chickens in their fancy bus at on one of my cross-country trips.
Sounds like a very practical way to get the chickens from Montana to NH.
Posted by: Phyllis Snow | November 10, 2012 at 02:06 PM
As someone who travelled in an 18 wheeler as a passenger years ago and who has been in a ton of truck stops, I would have LOVED to have seen that chicken coop pull into the parking lot! That would have been a highlight that I would have never forgotten!
The ingenuity in how you transport this wonderful coop is great. I have to say I'm duly impressed! Those chickens have a very nice home :)
Posted by: Ann | November 10, 2012 at 03:18 AM
LOOKS NICER THAN SOME PEOPLE'S HOMES, AT LEAST HERE IN NORTHCENTRAL ILLINOIS.
Posted by: FELICIA | November 09, 2012 at 03:05 PM
I haven't had any of the voting problem mentioned, but do want to hightlight Rolling Dog has been creeping up the ranks! Cool! Keep it up!
Posted by: Margaret | November 09, 2012 at 02:31 PM
Laughed out loud picturing the chickens looking out at people looking in at them at the truck stops. Of course, the chickens looked similar to the Sesame Street ones, but, oh, what a great mind's picture!
Posted by: Kathleen Rivard | November 09, 2012 at 01:49 PM
Traveling coop or bust. That coop has been around!!!!
Posted by: Shirley * James/Portland, OR | November 09, 2012 at 12:21 PM
"...with chickens looking out the windows."
That's hilarious! What an image.
Posted by: Lynne Parker | November 09, 2012 at 12:08 PM
The ingenuity and thought put into your farm is impressive!
Posted by: Mary H./Washington state | November 09, 2012 at 09:42 AM
I had to giggle at the thought of seeing a house full of chickens at a truck stop off a highway exit. Too Funny, but very practical! I hope the girls settle into their new surrounding quickly and glad you learned where not to put them :) Happy egg collecting.
Posted by: Anne in FL | November 09, 2012 at 08:44 AM
OK, I was going to ask you if the chickens were still in their house when you moved it but you answered that. I guess if the ride isn't too bumpy then they don't mind. I can just imagine the looks that driver got when driving them from Montana.
Posted by: Barb Ribinski | November 09, 2012 at 08:34 AM
I got quite a chuckle at the picture in my mind of the chickens looking out of their windows in their "mobile" home and the people doing a double take. Some well-traveled chickies. And what amazing problem solving you must do all the time! You don't need any sudoku to keep your brains firing.
Posted by: Connie | November 09, 2012 at 07:16 AM
I have tried to vote several times today but have been unable to because the validation code does not show up on the screen. I am wondering if other people are having the same problem.
Posted by: Ev | November 09, 2012 at 02:49 AM
Regarding the flatbed trailer move, I guess that's one unique answer to the question "How did the chickens cross the road?"!
I love the care and thought you have put into caring for your chickens!
Posted by: Roxie | November 09, 2012 at 12:24 AM
You have a real palace of a chicken coop! Does it also offer built-in Bose Wave radios, satellite TV and a wet bar?
I laughed myself sick picturing your traveling coop with the puzzled observers looking in and the equally puzzled chickens looking out.
Posted by: Moon Rani | November 08, 2012 at 09:50 PM