Review of the Mobile Chicken Coop by “Farm and Yard” products.

My old chicken coop

My homemade chicken coop castle has seen better days so it’s time to build a new one. It’s an old wooden cubby house combined with part of a flat-packed wooden chicken coop. It’s the one with the nesting box attached to a small shelter that has some perches and a slide out litter tray underneath. Normally they have a small run attached to it as well, which I’d removed. They’re suited well for people just starting out with chickens, who only want to test their chicken keeping adventure out with 2-3 chickens or some Bantam hens.

I enclosed my creative chicken coop with a chain wire mesh pet enclosure and some shade sail. My chickens could scratch around, safe from birds of prey, the hot sun and my dogs.

I’m going to pave the caged area and put the new solid wooden coop up on stumps, so I can keep the chicken’s area raked, hosed and clean easier. There’s a passionfruit vine growing like mad on 2 sides of the cage so I’ll wait until it’s finished fruiting (It’s loaded with fat fruit), and then I can cut down the vine and move the pet cage to a paved area beside it, with my new wooden coop (That’s my next project).

In the meantime, what do I do with my chickens? I need a new mobile coop of course.

Looking for a new coop

I decided on a new mobile chicken tractor.

In the chicken tractor I can move them to fresh pasture around my yard to pick green grass and scratch for a beta-carotene boost (it makes for nice orange yolks) then move them back to the other pen area when the weather is too cold, rainy or just to let them stretch their legs a bit more, ( Once I have my new wooden coop and cage setup) and give them a holiday so to speak in the mobile chicken tractor

Which is the Best Mobile Chicken Tractor?

The best choice for me is the Mobile chicken pen by “Farm and Yard Products”.

NOTE: I’m not affiliated with Farm and yard products and receive no royalties from any sales. My review is for your entertainment and to give you my opinion on this product, which may help you decide whether its suited to your needs.  

I’ll have a full review of some of the other great choices in a later blog post.

Why buy the Farm and Yard mobile chicken pen?

This mobile chicken tractor features some great things like solid mesh panels, attached wheels to easily move the pen, collapsable plastic nesting boxes, modular design and a canvas cover with straps and clips as an optional extra.

The modular design allows you to purchase additional sections to go from a 2-panel model (cage/pen with 1 extension run) to add up to 2 more panels. This would make it a 4-panel mobile pen, giving your chickens ample room to move.

I purchased a 3 panel Pen (cage and pen with 1 extension) as a multi buy combo. This combo came with the cage and pen + an additional extension, 2 nesting boxes, galvanized cage floor, 2 wheels and levers and a fantastic lined canvas pen cover that fully encloses the cage for wet and cold weather. I think it will help shade them in summer too.

Lightweight and mobile

It’s so lightweight to move once you lower the wheels. It probably weighs around 30kg but you won’t feel that at all as you easily maneuver it around your yard, with the wheels balanced nicely around the center of gravity.

Collapsable nesting boxes

The collapsible nesting boxes are super easy to clean, and deep enough to hold plenty of fresh straw or nesting material. The hens will nestle down into them comfortably to lay their eggs. 

Modular design

Being modular gives you plenty of choice, from a budget-friendly option of the cage and single panel design or by adding up to 2 more extension panels to give your hens plenty of room. So, you can easily house from 2 hens in the small version or up to 8 large hens in the fully extended version.

Floor option

There’s a galvanized mesh floor option that will help protect your hens from foxes. They bolt solidly and are zip- tied together for flexibility.

Canvas cover option

The canvas cover is optional, and I found it perfect to keep the hens out of the weather. It is lined to help waterproof it and has ample straps with plastic clips. The corners have Velcro to attach the sides together for a snug fit. The added darkness I feel will help keep any Roosters quiet in the early hours.

Key Features:

Some of the key features and options include:

• Painted steel roof and cage walls.
• Galvanized mesh panels
• Solid aluminum frames
• Stainless steel latches and hinges
• Galvanized mesh floor (optional)
• Collapsible plastic nesting boxes (optional
• Attachable plastic wheels with stainless steel levers.
• Additional panels for modular design (optional)
• Fitted Canvas cover (optional)
• Wooden perches
• Mesh nesting/perch area
• Flatpack design for ease of transportation
• Great instructions
• Actual socket tool for construction.

As many of the features are available as OPTIONAL EXTRAS, please be sure to check the fine print and details of what’s in your purchased package.

Where to buy the “Farm and yard” Mobile chicken tractor?

Youi can purchase the “Farm and yard” mobile chicken tractor directly from the Farm and Yard products website, or one of their many agency outlets. I purchased my mobile chicken tractor as a package detail on their website and opted to collect it from a local Farm and Yard products agency. The agent will contact you about collection once the order is ready for collection.

Alternatively, have it shipped direct from “Farm and Yard products” to your home for a small delivery fee.

My mobile chicken pen package deal was supplied in a stack of easily carried flatpacks and were all well signed as to their contents. They were easily loaded into my Ute with the largest being around 25 kilos, which was the chicken pen and cage.

Chicken Coop Assembly

Of course, assembling it outside on your lawn is probably the normal thing to do. Just be sure to put all the nuts and bolts and fittings in a container so you don’t lose them.

I opted to pre-assemble our chicken coop in my lounge room. It was easy to lay out everything on our floor rug, out of the weather and then move it outside later to attach the roof and floor. I would suggest a flat surface area to put together, preferably on a sheet, carpet or the cardboard packaging so you don’t scratch the floor tiles. Otherwise somewhere flat like your garage. (make sure you can get the assembled coop out through your door).

Assembling the chicken pen was simple as each component was in labelled packaging, and the instructions were easy to follow, unlike some flat packed items I’ve assembled before. It took my wife and I around 4 hours to put it together from start to finish though you could do it faster if you’re skilled at it.

Make sure you open all boxes and read ALL INSTRUCTIONS, before assembling the pen, and familiarize yourself with the components, though it’s not complicated.

We failed to do that and found EXTRA INSTRUCTIONS in the extension panel box. We were meant to attach the Extension panel to the cage/roosting section FIRST. Unfortunately, we’d already attached the panel that came with the cage/roosting section, so we wasted time having to undo all the nuts and bolts to switch the sections around.

One feature of the packaging I loved was the addition of a real spanner and a proper ratchet and socket. This made assembly so much easier than some of the usual flat metal spanner-like tools you typically see in a flatpack item.

If you struggle with flat pack assembly, try sourcing one of the many Flat pack assembly contractors, who will put this coop together for you in no time…..for a small fee of course.

Using The mobile Chicken Pen

My chickens love the new mobile pen, because they now have fresh green picking every day. They are laying more eggs, and the yolks are delicious creamy orange colour. They are safe from predators, and my dogs haven’t bothered them either. Theres no more problems with wild birds or rats getting into their pen.

At night they are comfortable and warm, with the addition of the fitted canvas cover, which I fold back every morning to let the sun in to warm them up.

I do, however, have to move them every day, so the litter doesn’t build up. If I must leave them in the same spot for a few days to a week, straw or mulch needs to be scattered on the floor to help keep them clean. The hens will still scratch through that to pick at the grass.  

I added old cardboard topped with cane mulch on top of the galvanized mesh roosting area. It’s a little cold at night and most of the hens have decided to sleep there instead of the perch.

I must remove one perch and place it further forward too as some hens have managed to soil into the nesting boxes, and I want nice clean eggs!

Also, the larger hens can fly up to the roosting area quite easily, but I have a small Bantam Rooster and he struggles to get up there. So, I’ve had to make him a ladder with some sturdy timber as there is no ladder supplied.

I would have preferred another door hatch on the lower part of the roost section as well so I can access the bottom of the pen section if needed.

I would suggest using some canister-style feeder and watering systems that attach to the cage walls, to stop food and water spillage. I’ll have a review of the best ones soon.

Conclusion

The mobile chicken Tractor by Farm and Yard products is one of the best mobile chicken coops for the budget conscious home chicken keeper.

Its lightweight, sturdy aluminum and stainless-steel design will easily keep up to 8 chickens comfortably when purchasing the additional modular sections.

If you add in plastic nesting boxes, fitted canvas cover and galvanized mesh floor, your chickens will be happy , safe and sound.

Overall it’s a great value chicken coop, that should last for many years, and keep your chickens happy.