You Can Have Free Range Chickens - in a Chicken Ark
When I brought four chickens home, I wanted them to be free to range around the backyard. That was much of the appeal of having chickens – watching them scratch and peck contentedly. It didn’t work out quite like that. They started free ranging over to the neighbor’s yard, even getting on their bird table where they enjoyed the plump sunflower seeds.
A good solution was a moveable chicken coop. There would be new ground for them every day, but I wouldn’t have to rescue them from the neighbors’. While I was outside I could let them out for a bit. Picture the scene: a lovely chicken ark, with hens secure at night and pecking contentedly in the run by day.
There was a big but though, these beautuful chicken arks cost a bomb. The shipping on them added even more. So I researched plans for chicken arks. They needed to be simple (I’m no carpenter) and with clear instructions. I found some clear plans with good instructions for a simple chicken ark, plus plans for a larger hen house and the ultimate chicken coop I could build when I get more chickens.
As well as materials lists and clear diaframs to explain the construction process, there’s loads of information on keeping chickens. We’re now set for the future with this downloadable book.
Now I have a handsome chicken ark with handles at each end so I can move it around. My hens are very happy. It has a cozy area for them to roost, a nesting area which they have now recognized as the place to lay eggs and a run for them to scratch and peck around in. I can put the chicken ark anywhere in my yard that I want cleared, and the neighbor’s bird table is back attracting wild birds, not backyard hens.
Now I’m planning to add to the flock. Hmm - is the next project the simple hen house or the sophisticated chicken coop with eaves and nesting boses along the side? It does look splendid, and I feel confident that with the chicken ark plans, I could make it quite easily.
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