No matter why you are raising chickens, no matter how many you have, no matter the breed, they’ve got to have a coop. That’s where they will go to sleep at night, and the coop is a central fixture in their lives.
The problem is that, unless you let them free range at all times, keeping them confined in the same run means it’ll quickly turn into a stripped, barren, and mucky morass.
But this issue is easily solved with a mobile chicken coop. Mobile coops, sometimes called chicken tractors, are exactly what they sound like: coops that can be moved to a new place on your property, in essence giving your birds a new patch of ground to peck and poop on.
It keeps their lives interesting, and spares patches of your land from being completely depleted, allowing them to regrow.
You can spend a fortune on a pre-built one or kit, or use one of these do-it-yourself plans to make your own for a fraction of the cost. I know why you’re here! Roll up your sleeves and let’s get to it.
Mobile Reclaimed Materials Coop
Your budget might be next to nothing, or maybe you are just as frugal as it gets, like me! That doesn’t matter, because with some leftover lumber and a few other choice materials, you can still make an entirely functional mobile coop that will serve your flock well.
This plan is a great example of that, and it doesn’t look half bad with some decent fasteners and finishing. A coat of paint or stain and you couldn’t tell that it was a scratch build from leftovers.
Make this yourself, or use it as inspiration for your own one-of-a-kind design. Get the plan here.
Modernized Mobile Coop
This modernized mobile coop is a great all-around design featuring a spacious interior for the chickens, separate nesting boxes that are easily accessed via a flip-up panel, and a secure, and closed run that gives the flock plenty of room to explore and scratch.
The coop is elevated off of the frame, increasing the ground space in the run and also keeping the interior drier and cleaner. A great design and one that is very easy to make if you have even a little bit of DIY skill.
5×13 Chicken Tractor
This space-efficient chicken tractor relies on a sturdy bar handle and oversized spoke wheels to make it a lot easier to push or pull around than its size would suggest.
It’s also packed with other great features like a peaked run, easily accessible nesting boxes, and a pull-out tray floor that allows you to clean out poop and soiled flooring in a snap without breaking your back.
Like the previous design, the coop is significantly raised off the ground to help keep it clean, dry, and safe from predators. One of my favorites on this list!
Get the plan here.
Emergency Chicken Tractor
Let’s face it. When you’re a homesteader, sometimes things just go wrong. If you’ve been homesteading for any length of time, they probably go wrong more often than you would like! Nonetheless, you’ve got to deal with it and take care of business.
If your existing chicken coop is damaged or destroyed, or you suddenly and inexplicably find yourself with an even larger flock for whatever reason, you might need to whip together a solution for flock housing quickly.
That’s where something like this simple, light, and mobile chicken coop could save the day.
Easy and Portable A-Frame Coop
This classically styled A-frame chicken coop is simple, rustic, and rugged. And on the surface, it doesn’t look particularly portable. No handles, no wheels.
Nonetheless, it’s light enough and sturdy enough that you can drag it around, or two fit folks can pick it up and carry it easily.
The simple design is quicker and cheaper to make, and it works just fine for a smaller flock of 6 chickens full-time, or maybe up to 10 if you let them out to roam and range during the day.
Get the plan here.
Tiny 3×4 Rolling Coop
If you just have a couple of chickens, you don’t need a huge coop. This little bitty 3×4 is suitable for just two to three adult birds, but for that purpose, it works well and is very quick and easy to build.
It still has a door and tray to make sanitation a snap, and the sturdy run enclosure will keep hostile critters out. And it’s as easy as it gets when it comes to moving it. Just like moving a dolly!
If you have a tiny flock and a tiny property, this should be the very first option on your list. Get the plan here.
Wire-framed Portable Coop
A creative and technically proficient variation, this wire-framed portable coop looks a little bit like a greenhouse at first glance. It’s certainly large enough even for a sizable flock numbering 12 chickens or more, and provides ample room for them to scamper around inside the run:
The coop is moved around by a set of three wheels which can be raised and lowered to jack up the entire frame.
And speaking of the frame, it has the genius feature of lowerable wire guards that will extend on the surface of the ground once it is in place. That prevents digging predators from getting under! Truly clever, my hat is off to the makers!
Tiny A-frame Coop
Another tiny coop that is suitable for bantam breeds or a handful of adult chickens, this one is easy to move around on flat land. For small backyards or small starter flocks, you don’t need anything else, and the low-profile design won’t clutter up your nice landscape.
Despite its somewhat minimalist appearance, it still has a lift-off roof to make checking on your feathered friends easy, and egg collection equally so.
Get the plan here.
Short 4×8 Coop
This rolling coop is notably shorter than many of the other similar kinds that we’ve looked at so far. You’ll have to get low if you want to get inside the run and coop for cleaning, but at least the extended egg boxes with lid will make morning collection straightforward.
The great thing about this design is that it doesn’t require nearly as much in the way of materials, and if you know you won’t be expanding your flock in the future there’s not much reason to go with anything bigger if you have between five and seven birds.
Get the plan here.
Easy-Clean Rolling Coop
With its classic, charming barn aesthetic, this mobile coop is designed to be as easy to clean as possible, and in that regard, the creators certainly succeeded.
You’ll have easy access to the interior, and of course, for cleaning the short run you can just roll it out of the way and then rake up the mess.
Another nice feature of this design is particularly is that it is somewhat overbuilt and extremely sturdy. Flimsy mobile coops have a way of shaking themselves apart, especially if you pull them over uneven ground several times a week.
Cart-style Rolling Coop
This cart-style coop is a really neat one. It features dual rows of nesting boxes, one row on either side, a pull-out tray for cleaning the coop floor, and double doors on that same side so you can truly open up one entire side of the structure.
The coop itself is also raised so the chickens have a little more room underneath. But it’s the frame that I like most on this one.
It’s very sturdy, and features six wheels, always riding just above the ground. That means you can grab it and just start pushing, no need to lean it, balance it, or jack it up.
This design feature is a trade-off, though, and it does make it a bit more vulnerable to smaller predators, so keep that in mind.
Get the plan here.
The Perfect Mobile Chicken Coop
If you like the previous design, but it’s just a bit too big and unwieldy for you, check out this version.
It has many of the same features, along with some extra ones like integrated watering and feeding stations along with the chicken swing, but it’s smaller overall. Using just four wheels, it easily rides just above the ground and is so easy to steer and maneuver.
But once again, that slightly lifted profile is enough to keep the chickens in, but it can let in predators like rats and snakes.
It also gives digging predators like coyotes a head start, so keep that in mind if you live in any place that has lots of critters that would love to eat your birds!
The Chicken Stagecoach
This hilarious and charming design, called the chicken stagecoach, lives up to its name. Looking like a cross between a covered wagon and a greenhouse, this step-in design has a spacious coop, a large completely covered run, and can be built with all kinds of different options including nesting boxes, integrated feed and watering chutes, and more.
I’ll tell you, this design ticks a lot of boxes for me. It’s very spacious, efficient, easy to build, and easy to move around. It’s one of my very favorites on the list, certainly in my top three.
If you have a modestly sized flock of around 10 chickens, plus or minus a couple, give this one a hard look. The company calls it the Cadillac of chicken tractors for good reason!
Get the plan here.
Trolley-style Chicken Tractor
An interesting plan that deviates significantly from most of the others we looked at, this trolley-style tractor is basically a low coop with no attached run.
You can raise and lower the cleated ramp to let your chickens in or out when it’s time for them to free-range, and a row of nesting boxes with a lift-off lid on the one side means you won’t have to bend down too far when you’re gathering your breakfast.
When it’s time to move the coop, it rolls over the terrain easily thanks to its large tires. Not a design you want to keep chickens in full time, for obvious reasons, but I know plenty of readers will find it useful.
Get the plan here.
Easy Towable Coop
This straightforward, rustic towable coop and run combo uses a trailer hitch-style hookup for its steerable wheels. The rest of it is built from basic lumber and commonly available materials like corrugated metal sheeting, shingles, and welded wire fencing.
One clever feature is the coop floor is made from cheap linoleum, meaning it will be oh-so-easy to clean and sanitize. This is a design that you could build very cheaply even if you were buying all the materials new, and you can likely whip it together with scrap if you wanted to.
The ChickShaw
This trendy creation has been going around on the internet for a minute now. Called the chickshaw, thanks to its resemblance to the human-powered rickshaw taxis found throughout Asia, this portable coop has a mesh floor that will let most of the mess fall right out.
Easy to make and among the easiest designs to reposition, the attached run is pretty small but enough to let your flock get a little air before you let them out properly into the yard.
Get the plan here.
The Cheapest Chicken Tractor
This is it. The ultimate coop for folks who are on the strictest budget or just don’t want to spend a penny more than they have to.
Costing just $25 using a little bit of scrap and precious few purchased components, if you have some basic tools and also some basic DIY know-how you can whip this simple tractor together in just one hour.
I’ve got legitimate concerns about its long-term durability, but it will certainly do the job in the short term.
Rollable On-Ground Coop
This on-ground coop combines a spacious interior, sloped roof, and a short covered run. It’s a suitable choice if you live in a mostly dry climate or just want something that is smaller and lighter overall.
The large and sturdy bar handle gives you lots of leverage for rolling the structure around using the all-terrain wheels on the opposite end. This one is suitable for between 6 and 8 adult chickens depending on the size of the breed, or 10 to 12 bantams.
Get the plan here.
Reclaimed Materials Tractor
Another “upcycled” build that is a veritable Frankenstein’s monster, the creator chopped up bookcases and other furniture and cannibalized wheels, framing members, and more from all sorts of things. Just goes to show what you can do with a little bit of ingenuity!
You probably won’t be able to make this exact version yourself since you won’t be using the same components that the creator did, but if you’ve got plenty of junk lying around or some old furniture to throw out, you’ll get close enough…
Get the plan here.
Lightweight Chicken Tractor
Definitely a radical departure from typical chicken coop and tractor design, this one is assembled from lightweight but weatherproof and very durable PVC piping.
For its size, this is about as light as it gets. Some sacrifices have been made in terms of durability, and I might worry about high wind events toppling the thing, but this design is a testament that there is a design out here that will suit any requirement or any taste.
Tom Marlowe
Tom has lived and worked on farms and homesteads from the Carolinas to Kentucky and beyond. He is passionate about helping people prepare for tough times by embracing lifestyles of self-sufficiency.
