Comments on: The chicken tractorThis is a journal, of sorts, of an organic garden in SW Michigan. "Ut sementem feceris, ita metes."By: El- May 13, 2008 Hi Seagrass: congrats on your coop! Nah, this tractor is just what it sounds like: a movable coop. They'll spend the rest of their short lives in here, and we will move the coop once or twice a day to give them fresh grass to eat, lie down on, and poop upon. I am glad you're getting your mom in on the chicken action too. Everyone, in my humble opinion, would benefit with a chicken or two around. But yes, this coop was all new materials; we're pretty good at recycling our farm junque and...http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2573 By: Liz- May 12, 2008 We did 8 weeks. We could have let them go longer, but they dressed out between 4 12 - 5 lb and that's plenty for us!http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2563 By: seagrass- May 12, 2008 we just made our coop for our chickens that we got this past weekend and now we are going to build a little corral to keep them in when we clean out the coop. is this what you call a tractor i like your design, by the way. we are going to use a mashup of different ideas, too. next we are building a coop for my mom, improving on what we learned with the first one. it cost us about $150 to build. we want to try using scrap materials and see how cheap and practical we can make the next one! i...http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2554 By: El- May 12, 2008 Liz! WOot on the plucking! (I love all this advice I am getting.) No bears here (amen) but we've been known to have a puma in the area...it killed a horse a couple of years back. Oh and coyotes. They're really shy, though. SO: how long before yours went into the freezer 8 weeks, more, lesshttp://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2551 By: Liz- May 12, 2008 Snazzy chicken house, El! (and so big! Mine is only 4x8' for 12 birds.) I'm going to hope you don't have bears in your neighborhood. Jamie (10signslikethis) had a tractor very much like yours that was obliterated by an area bear. It ripped open the chicken wire like it was spaghetti. Scary! You mentioned in your last post about their chests not being feathered out "yet". Based on our experience, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for more feathers... That's part of the appeal of meat..http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2550 By: El- May 12, 2008 Kelly, would it just be a day tractor I'd think with your three girls you could make it 8' long or so. You could always join two PVC conduits together to make a higher arch: the conduit typically has one belled end and one straight end for that reason. So...if it were a day tractor you might not need a perch, but if it were for night you would need to put one in there. Somehow.http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2549 By: Kelly (fhf)- May 12, 2008 I'm loving it! Meg and I are trying to find the time to make a tractor for our girls. Our main concern is weight. We want it to be structurally sound, but we don't want it to be a struggle to move. Thanks for the design idea.http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/05/11/the-chicken-tractor/#comment-2548 |