Egg Mobile

This appeared in the April 9, 2020 edition of The Fish Wrap

When our chickens come home to roost, we want them to go to our Egg Mobile.  This is a mobile structure currently under construction for the chickens to roost and lay their eggs in.  For any animal, whether it's a chicken or a cow, fresh pasture every day is important for their health and the soil health.

Our Egg Mobile is intended to house 400 chickens, but we are starting at half capacity.  It’s approximately 17ft x 9ft in the chickens’ area with a 3ft x 9ft room on the end for egg collection.  It is built on the running gear from an old single tank anhydrous rig. The floor is expanded metal to allow manure to fall through, and has a trap door that we will use to release the girls each morning.

We made four 4ft double sided roll away community nest boxes that have a hand powered conveyor down the middle.  The nest boxes have a 14 degree slope to the floor so that the eggs roll gently to the conveyor, and all the nest boxes will be able to pivot so that the angle can be maintained even when on un-level ground.  We also built them with closable doors to keep the chickens from sleeping in the nest boxes. All of these details should allow for easy collection and cleaner eggs.

Happy chickens make nutritious eggs and a joyful life for all. To make ours happy, the Egg Mobile has cozy, comfortable and secure roosts and nest boxes.  Chickens like a little privacy from a nest box as well so we added a curtain to the front so they can lay their golden eggs in peace. When it’s completed, we will post some pictures on our website so that this will make more sense to everyone.