I was going to pick up the roof for the chicken coop this weekend, but my back went out unexpectedly and there's no way it was going to happen. Laying there, resting the back on Friday, I got to thinking about the roof. The roof that went with the coop was great: big, sturdy, and removable. But also very heavy. I'd really like to try and make the coop more mobile, a chicken tractor for moving them around our big yard, but that meant cutting down on the weight. I have some ideas on trimming the coop a bit, but a heavy roof just wouldn't do.

My original plan for a chicken tractor was based on some YouTube's I'd seen, mostly made out of PVC with an attached living space. So I started thinking about PVC roof rafters and plastic cardboard panels for the roof. It would be light, that's for sure, but could it be made sturdy. I picked up both 90 and 45 degree PVC junctions, not quite sure how high of a roof would be best. I setup some pipes with one of each and had the gang vote and everyone wanted the extra height using 90 degrees. Then, after making some real PVC rafters I decided it should work. Once I put up a couple more I realized the ends should be 2x2's so there'd be something to staple chicken wire onto or to install end caps in the Winter.

Then I realized that the roof panels were 6 foot long, not the 8 feet I needed (I'm such a bad planner sometimes). Another 2x2 rafter was installed and the first panel went up.

Faith had been asking if I could change the coop so she could stand up inside. Well, with the chicken wire on the roof ends there's no need for the wire across the inside top and her wish was granted! Still have some work to do, a little flashing to install in a few places and other tweaks, but it's pretty nice so far! If you look closely at this last photo you'll see ski tips sticking out like the toes of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. That's my secret plan for mobility, although a longer pair of skis (jumping skis!) would be best.

Update: Roof is all finish, along with some other touches. After securing the test cross-country skis Zane and I hooked up the lawn tractor and pulled the chickens around the yard as a test. Slow and easy, but we were able to go down an incline, do a wide turn, and then back up the incline and park it about 15 feet from where we started. Would like a better ski/skid setup, but otherwise it works great!