Innovative way to keep chickens safe

Repurposing something no longer being used into something useful can be a challenge sometimes.
Greg Moorse found the challenge a no-brainer when he purchased a former Schwan's Refrigeration semi-trailer from a neighbor, moved it to the Moorse Dairy farmsite owned by Greg and his brother Bernie, and turned it into a chicken coop/straw storage area.
"Some days you have to have an imagination," Moorse laughed. "Our chicken coop went down three years ago during a bad winter."
The chickens were then placed in a brooder house, but that also didn't suit Moorse well.
"We had opossums, skunks and a raccoon killing the chickens," he said. "So, we had to do something."
Moorse and his son, Grady, decided they would build a new chicken coop. But when Moorse found out it would cost around $4,000 to construct, he began to look for something less expensive.
"One of my neighbors had this trailer and wondered if I wanted to use it for something," Moorse said. "I ran it past my brother, and we thought it might make a good chicken coop because it was already painted, and it would be off the ground so the chickens would be safer."
Around 35 various breeds of laying hens were brought in two weeks ago and are occupying about two thirds of the trailer. New nesting boxes obtained from Runnings in Canby where Greg's wife, Becky is manager, were installed on the inside walls of the trailer. Fans were also installed on each end to give the birds some comfort.
A truck ladder was purchased from another neighbor and allows for easy access to the inside of the trailer/chicken coop. One new window was installed, and another will be installed soon.
"I'll put some extra wood shavings on the floor and put a little heater inside for the winter," Moorse said. "It's a refrigerator trailer, so it's well insulated."
In the other third of the trailer, a caged wall was put up to keep the straw stored for Brittany Moorse's calves that are located just outside the trailer, each in their own calf house.
"With everything included, it cost me half of what it would have been to build a new chicken coop," Moorse noted.