If you've ever thought about raising a few "free range" chickens to sell to local food markets but didn't like the work involved in using portable chicken coops, you might like this idea from Ohio farmer Mark Dobbs. He made a mobile chicken coop out of a school bus.

He removed all the seats in the bus and built a wood wall right behind the driver's seat. Then he built 20 nests in the front half of the bus. They run from floor to ceiling. Behind the nests he mounted three tiers of wooden perches for roosting at night. A narrow alley runs down the middle of the bus. Chickens enter and exit on a wide wood ramp at the back of the bus. Capacity is 250 hens.

"It's a simple system that's so unusual it actually helps draw attention to our business," notes Dobbs. "We raise chickens and ducks and sell all our products 60 miles away in the Cincinnatti area. We don't drive the bus over the road. However, we do show potential customers photos of it. They get a kick out of the idea of 'educated hens'.

"If we hadn't used the bus we probably would have built a skid-mounted structure or built a box on top of a wagon running gear. But it was a lot easier just to convert the bus.

"We let the hens out in the morning to feed. When they come back at night to roost we close the doors. A large Pyrenees dog stays with the hens, who range out about 200 ft. or so. We move the bus periodically when the grass gets scratched out. During the summer the chickens lay in the shade under the bus.

"We use the alleyway to collect eggs. Manure is simply scraped out the back. We put wood shavings on the floor to keep everything dry. During the summer we put the windows down for ventilation. The partitioned-off area next to the driver serves as a storage area to keep feed, grit, and other supplies."