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Over the last year or so, raising chickens and getting delicious home-raised eggs has boomed in popularity. There’s just one problem.
Raising chickens isn’t as easy as it seems, and whether you’re trying to start a backyard flock to put eggs on the table each morning or you’re getting into homesteading, there are a lot of mistakes you to make as a beginner.
Today, we’re going to run you through setting up your mobile chicken coop properly to help you avoid all those mistakes.
Let’s get started.
First and foremost, this isn’t an endeavor where you buy a bunch of stuff and then figure it out as you go. You need a solid game plan before you spend a single dollar.
This includes considering multiple factors.
Consider the amount of space you have. This typically isn’t a problem for a farmer, but if you’re operating a backyard coop or a small homestead coop, every square foot counts. You don’t want to overpopulate a smaller coop to meet your needs, because it’s bad for the chickens.
However, you also don’t want to get a coop that’s too small and have a smaller flock than you need. You need to choose your dimensions just right.
Luckily, we have size and flock charts on our site to cover all our mobile chicken coops, and we’ve written full guides to help you handle this effectively.
Of course, even if you have the room for a massive flock and want plenty of chickens, they are an ongoing expense. Just like a dog, cat, or any other household animal, you have to make sure they’re well-fed, and that can get a little expensive.
Chickens aren’t the most expensive animals out there, and it’s certainly accessible to own some, but you need to look up your local chicken feed prices, develop a feeding plan if you want to incorporate garden scraps and other items that aren’t as costly, and figure out how many chickens that can maintain.
Investing in add-ons like a hanging chicken feeder and a poultry waterer kit can also help reduce waste and make feeding and hydrating your chickens much more efficient.
The goal is to avoid setting up a big chicken flock that you can’t afford to properly maintain. Luckily, water is practically free, and most of their other needs aren’t frequent expenses.
There are two types of chickens for you to choose from, and we’re not talking about special breeds or anything like that.
There are hens and fryers. Fryers are meat chickens that you’ll be butchering and cooking, and a coop can hold more of them without sacrificing their comfort and needs. Hens are the egg layers you raise to keep fresh, beautiful, homegrown eggs on your breakfast plate. They take up more space than their meat bird counterparts.
Again, we have charts that tell you how many of each fit into every coop offered. So, it’s easy to factor this in when deciding if you should go for a medium-sized 10x12 model or a slightly more spacious 12x12 coop.
Finally, you need to consider your needs. Whether you’re raising hens, fryers, or a mix of the two, you want your flock to support your needs for everything they have to offer.
Of course, this has to come after your space and budget considerations. Depending on how small your space is or how tight the budget is, you might have to downgrade your expectations.
Luckily, even the smallest mobile chicken coops, such as the compact 6x8 model, can hold more than enough of each type of chicken for the average household. So, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Once you have the details figured out and know what you can handle, it’s time to get the coop set up. You do not want to buy the chickens first and then struggle to deal with them until your mobile chicken coop arrives. You don’t want a bare coop that doesn’t meet your chickens’ needs, either.
We offer mobile chicken coops suitable for everyone from at-home chicken keepers to farmers. So, you can easily find a coop that meets the needs we highlighted earlier. Just follow our considerations section and buy the coop that matches what you can handle.
Beyond that, you’ll want food containers, water containers, bedding areas, and any heated water supply options or other advanced features in place and ready to go before you buy your chickens.
When it comes to add-ons and accessories, this is also a good time to consider adding a roll-away egg box, which allows eggs to gently roll into a collection tray. This keeps them cleaner and minimizes the chances of breakage.
You might also want to install a side barrier panel, which adds extra protection from the elements and helps maintain a more stable temperature inside the coop to keep chickens warm during winter.
Unless you’re opting for advanced systems to support the chickens in a more difficult climate, this isn’t a difficult or expensive thing to do before getting your chickens.
Sourcing your initial flock is a big moment. The main rule you want to follow is not to purchase more than you can maintain, and it’s typically better for a beginner to buy fewer chickens than their coop can hold.
This gives you room to expand a little as you get more experienced, but you’re not immediately overwhelmed learning all the new things that come with it.
You can buy chickens from a lot of sources. Local breeders, farmers, and even big box retailers meant for farmers are all easy-to-access sources. The key is to make sure each chicken you buy is healthy and the supplier is reputable.
If you’re part of the new backyard chicken keeper craze, you’ve probably seen a lot of stuff that makes it sound as if raising chickens is the easiest thing possible. Well, it’s not. It’s a lot of work just to maintain a small backyard flock.
If there’s sunlight for 12 hours a day, you’ll be collecting eggs once or twice daily. There's also the more obvious work of going out to feed and water them daily.
Beyond that, you’ll need to keep the coop clean. The good thing about using our mobile chicken coops is that you can lift the coop and wheel it to a new location, and that takes care of a lot of the cleaning requirements.
Shovel excessive manure out of the area, and let your chickens enjoy a fresh space. The coop itself will need to be washed and inspected as needed. Our mobile coops provide a free-range experience. So, coop cleaning is a lot easier.
If you’re up for a little more work, you can also start gardening, scrapping, and bug harvesting.
Gathering uncooked meat scraps, growing vegetables, and setting up cicada traps can net you a lot of free chicken food to cut your costs, but it greatly increases the amount of work you have to do for your flock.
So, there you have it. With the right mindset and a bit of investment, starting a chicken flock doesn’t have to feel so intimidating. We’ve touched on the hard work required to properly raise chickens, but it’s worth every bit of effort. Beyond the resources you harvest, it’s also an experience.
At Chicken Ranger, you’ll find everything you need to get started! From well-designed coops and practical add-ons that make the entire process feel more manageable.
Don’t hesitate to give us a call anytime if you have any questions or need further information!