New Aluminum Salatin style pen no dolly required.

[randyandmegs]

Basic Frame....

Forgot to take more pics of frame assembly. Corners from chain link fence material at HD or LOWs. Braces also from same stores. All tubing is 1 3/8 tubing for chain link fence.

Wheel design copied from Jaku with a little modification. This eliminates the need for a dolly to move the pen.

After pen is moved wheel laid flat and pen rests back on the ground.

Simple pin used to hold wheel in place.

After chicken wire attached

Board to hold door open so I can clean waterer and put trough feeders in and out. First coat of enamel on tubing to make sure it stays cool in the summer.

All that is left is to slap on some CoolSeal on the tin and we start on pen 2. It took about 5 evenings maybe 7 hours total to build entire pen.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Looks great!

I was thinking of building something along the same lines, except welding it up out of 1" square steel or aluminum. We have a pile of scrap steel siding, although if we ever get around to residing our old barn, it is covered with corrugated aluminum panels that will be replaced.

Are those white zip ties? I think you'll find that those will turn brittle after a season in the sun. The black ones are UV resistant.

 

[lsv313]

Looks great! How many chickens do you plan to hold in it?

 

[randyandmegs]

I was worried about that with the zip ties. With my other wooden pens it was easy just to staple the wire to the wood. I tried twisting wire around it but that left to many sharp edges. I got the white ties from the auto parts store that were rated for high temps for engine use but I would imagine I will have to replace them at the end of the season with the black ones. Last year in similar pens we keep 90 birds per pen and it worked great. Im basically following Salatins model for the numbers. Before I tried it and after hearing people complain that that was to many I was worried last year but after raising almost 500 last year that number works well and they are not crowded by any means just people judging without actually raising them that way. The down side is that the pen cost more than wood but in the long run will last for many more years. Last years pen already needs some mending.

 

[DenverBird]

Quote:
What breed did you have in the pens last year? CX or a heritage breed?

...The down side is that the pen cost more than wood but in the long run will last for many more years...

That's what I was thinking but you've got a good point about the durability, especially if you count labor for a wood pen's yearly repair and eventual replacement several times before the metal version wears out. I'd expect the aluminum one would be a much better deal if you figured the life-cycle costs.

Thanks!

-DB​

 

[Firemenlovechicks]

Very nice!!!

 

[randyandmegs]

CX we are going to try some Freedom Rangers with electric netting and and the shelter from Farmtek.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I like that wheel design. I'm going to think about how I can incorporate it into my own tractors.

 

[patman75]

That is very nice. Great job.

 

[PatS]

Oh my gosh, I LOVE it! Brilliant! As someone who is "mechanically challenged" can you describe how you did the wheels? Is cool seal something one can get at Home Depot? How big would you say it is?

Very impressive job.