I wrote about the need to move the large stationary coop from our back run to make room for a large compost area back there.
We actually moved the coop back in June, but I haven't had a chance to post about it until now.
First, a little background on the coop. It was a 4' x 6' coop, built in 2017 from reclaimed lumber. We actually built it in pieces at my folks house and then built it modular in place.
Because it was built of reclaimed lumber, it's VERY heavy and was NOT built to be moved. All that being said, we wanted it moved, and a friend of mine was crazy enough to volunteer to help.
The first job was to clean a few years worth of leaves and other organic debris from the run area so we could have a solid working area. That was no small project, but the leaves went on the compost pile and some of the nice, rich dirt from underneath went to different projects like flower beds (and there's more of it to be harvested, as well).
The worm load in the run was insane, and as we were turning it over, the chickens were feasting.
The run cleaned up, it was time to get started. We jacked up the coop and put runners under both sets of legs. Then we reinforced the corners so the legs would stay stable. Eventually, we got the coop up on PVC rollers. We used a tractor to pull the coop forward and slowly placed the rollers under the front of the coop that came out the back end of the setup.
Once we got outside the run area into the "dirt area" that is going to become more run, it was all downhill, so it got a lot easier. The coop now sits where the dirt pile that we moved earlier this spring used to reside.
All told, it took about 4 1/2 hours to move. The job was more monotonous than it was "hard", which I consider a small victory. Now, hopefully we never have to move it again!
Getting the coop moved set us up for some more direct removal, some composter building, and some more fencing/gate work. That'll all be going down in the next several weeks.
The coop in it's final destination:
