Moving My Peafowl Coop

August 15, 2022

We have many summer projects going on at my Bedford, New York farm - among them, moving my peafowl coop, so it can support new fencing above the enclosure to keep my birds safe from wild predators.

I have grown quite fond of peafowl and have my own ostentation that includes several peacocks and peahens that I hatched right here in a specially made incubator. My peafowl live in a spacious yard adjacent to my allée of lindens not far from my stable. They also have a sizable coop. Last week, my property manager, Doug, along with Pete and Fernando from my outdoor grounds crew, carefully moved the coop 25-feet toward the center of the pen. And they did it "the old fashioned way" - by using aluminum pipes to roll the structure forward.

Here are some photos and a short video from the move, enjoy.

: Moving a heavy structure like this coop must be done correctly to prevent it from getting damaged.

: The first step is to outline where the coop would go. Doug spray-painted the new footprint. This coop is rectangular in shape measuring 26-feet long by 10-feet wide.

: We rented a Ryan sod cutter for the day. The Ryan Company has been designing and selling turf care equipment for more than 60-years. Their sod cutter was actually created after the business partnered with a commercial landscaper named Art Ryan. There are different types of sod cutters, but they all essentially cut grass at the roots so entire sections of sod can be removed to expose the bare ground underneath it. It cuts 12-inch widths of sod and can cut more than 100-feet per minute.

: Pete starts cutting the sod from the outside first. Here is the new location after the sod cutter’s first pass.

: Fernando follows by rolling up the strips behind Pete. Doing this makes it easier to see where the sod has already been cut.

: Once all the sod is removed from the designated area, any stray pieces of grass are raked away and the area is prepared for the next phase of our project.

: Meanwhile, the heavy stone step is also moved away from the coop along with any other smaller stone pavers.

: For this project, the crew needs several aluminum pipes and long pieces of timber. All of these were already here at the farm. We save as much material as we can for projects like this.

: The coop is already built on a proper foundation set on concrete blocks. Using a heavy duty hydraulic jack to hoist the coop up a little more, the crew carefully places the wood under the structure.

: The wood is placed on the diagonal in the direction the coop will move.

: Here is Pete using the jack again to position the pipes. Each side is done slowly, adding one piece at a time in order to keep the structure level as it is being done.

: Here is the front of the coop with the pipes underneath and ready to go.

: Here is a view from the back.

: During this move, the peafowl are safe in another enclosure, but look who is curious about the entire process – my flock of geese. From their own pen, they walk closer to the fence to watch all the activity.

: The next step is to position our trusted Hi-Lo in the adjacent paddock where there is room to maneuver it and pull the coop into place.

: Giant straps and rope are used to secure the coop to the Hi-Lo.

: Here is a view from a few feet away. Here, one can see how far the coop has to move.

: Slowly the Hi-Lo pulls the coop. Here, the coop was rolled several feet. It is now over a section of its new footprint.

: Here, it is moved a little more – almost there.

: Here is a view from the back and the space it once occupied.

: The Hi-Lo pulls it as close to its mark as possible. The last few inches will be finished by hand – slowly pushing the structure into position.

: And here it is in its new home – perfectly in place.

: Before the wood and aluminum rollers are removed, Fernando returns the gravel underneath the coop from the old location. When this coop was built, galvanized wire mesh was also used to line the entire top of the floor to prevent unwelcome critters from getting inside.

: Here, Fernando levels the gravel under the coop.

: Once all the gravel is moved, the jack is used to take out all the piping and timbers.

: And the concrete blocks are adjusted perfectly into place once again.

: The peafowl coop is now settled in its new spot. The stone step will be returned and protective wire will also be placed around the bottom sides of the coop. In a future blog, I will share photos of the new protective fencing that will cover the top of the enclosure to keep my peafowl residents safe from harm.