Ewe Mama
In the Brooder
Hello. After following many links and reading various threads, I found thegardencoop.com website and The Garden Ark plans. I like that it is very step by step for people new to building projects, which is what I definitely need. I wanted something much larger, but I like how predator proof the design appears to be. (If you know of other chicken tractor plans that are very step by step, please let me know.)
What I am thinking is this...I eventually would like a chicken moat around a large garden (about 1/4-1/3 acre). If I start small, literally, and build a garden ark (or possibly two) this season, along with several of the quarter height garden runs, and the same number of raised beds using their free plans, I could have a small chicken moat of say a configuration of 6-8 beds with runs connected to the garden ark. The runs would sit on top of the raised beds and the chickens could do their thing to prepare the beds for next spring's planting.
Over the winter, we could build more raised beds, another ark, and some more runs, and move the original runs to make a larger rectangle away from the original beds which could then be used for planting. Over the years, we could gradually expand the size of the moat as we are able, as well as increasing the size of the flock. My hope is that, when we reach the desired size, we could build larger permanent coops and runs.
Does this sound like a reasonable plan, or does it sound like it would cost way too much in the long run? My concern is that if we don't do something about chickens and a moat on a small scale, we will never save up enough money to do it big-scale, the way I envision it.
What I am thinking is this...I eventually would like a chicken moat around a large garden (about 1/4-1/3 acre). If I start small, literally, and build a garden ark (or possibly two) this season, along with several of the quarter height garden runs, and the same number of raised beds using their free plans, I could have a small chicken moat of say a configuration of 6-8 beds with runs connected to the garden ark. The runs would sit on top of the raised beds and the chickens could do their thing to prepare the beds for next spring's planting.
Over the winter, we could build more raised beds, another ark, and some more runs, and move the original runs to make a larger rectangle away from the original beds which could then be used for planting. Over the years, we could gradually expand the size of the moat as we are able, as well as increasing the size of the flock. My hope is that, when we reach the desired size, we could build larger permanent coops and runs.
Does this sound like a reasonable plan, or does it sound like it would cost way too much in the long run? My concern is that if we don't do something about chickens and a moat on a small scale, we will never save up enough money to do it big-scale, the way I envision it.