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The best portable chicken coops
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If you've convinced your spouse or significant other of the benefits of having your own backyard chickens, it's time to consider what kind of chicken coop will best fit into your urban or suburban surroundings.
One of the most popular designs today (and my own first chicken coop) is the Eglu, by Omlet USA. The Eglu is highly engineered of easy-to-wash materials. The basic unit resembles a dog house with an internal bed for laying and a slatted, sloped floor to catch the chicken droppings. Everything snaps or pins together without tools. A side door allows access to gather eggs. An attached chicken run with a flat apron discourages burrowing predators.
The basic cost Eglu cost is $495 plus shipping, which varies by location.
My own Eglu arrived by Greyhound bus, so I had to pick it up at the bus station. You will need a very large SUV or truck if the Omlet is shipped to you this way. I had to unpack the Omlet to fit into my SUV.
In addition to the Eglu, Omlet offers arrangements with hatcheries to deliver up to four chickens with your Eglu chicken coop. The chickens arrive as pullets--juvenile chickens ready to begin laying. The chickens are shipped overnight through the U.S. postal service. The post office is quite experienced at handling live shipments and will call you when the chickens arrive so that you can pick them up right away or they can deliver them.
The chickens probably don't like being shipped, but they are none the worse for wear. My own three chickens arrived a bit dazed and thirsty, but quickly made themselves at home in their Eglu. To my surprise, they started laying eggs two days after they arrived.
The Hen Condo, which can house two to three hens,
is promoted as being a stealth coop because of its
discreet garbage can design.
Another stylish design is the Hen Condo.This chicken coop was designed to resemble a garbage can for use in places where the neighbors might otherwise object to the presence of livestock. The marketers of the Hen Condo boast that the "invisible, discrete stealth coop can be owned less conspicuously than other designs.
The condo's walls are made of recycled billboard materials. A feeder can hold several days' worth of food and a nipple waterer will keep water clean. The lid snaps shut to keep the hens safely enclosed.
The cost of the Hen Condo is $499, which includes shipping anywhere within the continental U.S. The package arrives in two flat cardboard boxes. The manufacturer says the condo takes about 90 minutes to set up.
For a more traditional farmhouse design, the
chicken tractor is a good choice and holds four to
six hens.
If you really yearn for more of a farmhouse look, the Chicken Tractor might be the chicken coop design for you. The barnhouse design is constructed of paint-sealed wood, with a galvanized metal roof. Four screened windows provide cross ventilation. Nesting boxes and roosting poles are built in.
The cost of the Chicken Tractor is $1,199. Shipping is extra and varies depending on your location and whether you choose ground shipping or a speedier delivery.
Of course, you may prefer to do what chicken owners have been doing for centuries--construct your own chicken coop from salvaged materials. An excellent book for ideas is Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock, by Judy Pangman.
To learn more about raising and keeping your own backyard chickens, try these great books:
Keeping Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces, by Barbara Kilarski
Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock, by Jay Rossier
Barnyard in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, and Cows, by Gail Damerow
You can reach Robin, the National Gardening Examiner, at gardeningexaminer@gmail.com.
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