50 CHICKEN chicken tractor!! Pics and Progress!

[debir1966]

WOOT WOOT!!!! Awesome! I can't wait to see it housing your chickens

 

[perchie.girl]

Oh Yeaah.... a boat winch.... Bettern a pully any time. Hee hee.

Looks great.

deb

 

[colburg]

Oh Yeaah.... a boat winch.... Bettern a pully any time. Hee hee.

Looks great.

deb

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. With the boat winch, even my wife can do 2 tires at the same time. I thought about linking all 4 tires to the same winch, but what I've got now was garaunteed. I may try all 4 one day when I have some time to kill.

A couple of notes on the 2 different winches. The one from TSC is much easier to crank than the one from Lowes. The Lowes winch was 14ft of strap rolled up in it even when the tractor is down. This gives it a larger diameter to pull around and makes it harder. The TSC winch only has about 6 wraps of cable around it so the diameter is as small as possible. Also not sure of gearing ratios.

Of course, easier means more rotations of the handle. Don't know which one she liked best.

OT: I've had strawberry marshmellows in my Duke Dog Proof for two weeks and the last couple days I was thinking I had been duped. HAHAHA, jokes on me. But this morning, I had 2 coons trapped not 10ft from each other. HMMM, maybe they do work.

OT: I was working on the tractor after dark last night and Steckles, our dog, went nuts barking toward the end of the driveway. I shined my light down there, nothing. Told poor Steckles to stop barking like he could really understand me. He kept barking so I looked back and there were 2 sets of eyes bounding up and down just like stinking raccoons eyes. My guess is that's what's been stealing the cat food every night. I pulled the 12ga out of the truck, got it loaded, aaaaaaand, the eyes were gone. SHUCKS. WAAAAAIITTT. There they are, looking right at me. I had one of the lights that straps on your head and when I took aim, my head wasn't aimed in the same direction as the gun so the light was no longer pointed at the target. I turned my head, but now the BB on the shotgun was out of line. Took aim, but couldn't see what I was aiming at. SOB. I never realized that my eye goes cock-eyed when I'm shooting. The little rascal was a little out of range so I took a guess and pulled the trigger. Walk up a little bit and one pair of eyes has hauled butt, never gonna get him, but the other pair is closer.... HAHAHAHAHAHA, I got you now sucker. Sneak up a little closer with the light shining to the side, hoping not to spook it away. Take AAAAAAAIM(This is more like an execution than a hunt). Shine light over there Quick while taking of safety. STOOOOOOOPPPPPPPP. That's a skinnnny coon. Oh carp, that's not a coon, it's one of my daughters cats. HOOOLLYYY CRAAAAAAP!! I almost took out Swish Swish, her favorite cat. The other pair of eyes is now closer. AWWWWWWW look, it's Jengo. Sorry guys, I'll give y'all some of the good canned food instead of normal dry if you don't tell your sister(Our daughter likes to go around saying, "Steckles is my brother.", "Swish Swish is my sister.") I tried to kill you. And stop running so that your eyes look like coon eyes. They're not supposed to bound up and down like that.

Could you imagine the guilt

? The shame

? The cover up and lies

? That would have been a secret to take to the grave. Kinde like another SSS, Shoot, Shovel, Shut-up, only much, much worse.

On a good note, I was right. That's partially what's been stealing the cat food everynight.

 

[debir1966]

I am very happy for your daughter... and you... oh, and the cats!!!

 

[colburg]

Finishing Touches

Starting with the tongue. Very simple, lightweight.
It swivels up and down, but not left and right. I'm not sure how that'll work for pulling it through the orchard, but we'll try this first.


Oh, the cables in the pic above are jumper cables. The ground lead from the welder wasn't long enough and this metal was insulated from the rest of the tractor with the wood, so I had to make an extension.

I don't know if this could get any simpler. Just kinda worried about sturdiness for now. To attach it to the 4-wheeler or truck, drilled a hole through the pipe, and notched it out.


Where the expanded metal wraps around the cattle panels, I just went ahead and welded it. I wiggled and pulled on it and it wouldn't fall apart, but, the welder was close and it only took a few minutes.


There was a small problem with the tongue. When the tractor was lifted, then let back down, the tongue jabbed into the ground and would push the tractor backwards and dig a hole. It has to be able to go up and down because it has to go over the borders in the orchard and the hitch on the 4-wheeler and truck are different heights.

Solution: some wire, and a spring clip to start. The latch is just so the wire can be moved out of the way because this little setup gets in the way of walking in the door.


Then put a spring on the other end. You can also see the latch in this pic. I almost forgot to put latches on all the doors before heading out.

My luck we woulda got all the chickens put in with no way to keep them in and I woulda been in the doghouse for having to work on it while my wife herded 50 chicks.


The front door is so tall and a little flimsy so I put 2 latches on it. Here's the bottom one. It wedges into that metal L-bracket, and it's about 18 inches long, so a coon has to unwedge it, then rotate all the way up.


And if the coon rotates it to far, it'll keep going 180 degrees and relock the door. So, in order to open the door, this simple piece of wood has to balance on its end.


That's the first line of defense at night. The second is the little hatch door into the area where they'll sleep until their feet are large enough for the expanded metal on the floor of the nesting and roosting area. This part of the tractor is completely enclosed in expanded metal held in place with about a gazillion 1-1/4 staples. I can't even pull out the sides with pliers.

Again, pretty simple. That spring is tensioned up pretty tight. So Mr. Predator now has to push down on the spring loaded board, and pull up the hatch door. Once again, if the board rotates just a little bit too far, it relocks the door. It's actually a bit of a pain to balance it just right. The wires attached to the door and swivel board go just outside the tractor so they can be let out without going in. (Oh yeah, there's a hefty wood screw screwed into the door that stops the swivel borad from going all the way up.)


Once the door is pulled up and you let go of the swivel board, the board swings up and holds the whole door up.



Well, there you have it. The only work left to be done is the nesting boxes and making the roost area draft proof.

Up next: The maiden voyage.

 

[colburg]

The Maiden Voyage

Allright. Got'er lifted up. Moved all the tools, leads, air hose, beer bottles out of the way. Hooked up the 4-wheeler(I really hope this works so I have 2 methods of moving it)

.




Off we go. Yaayyyyy

. She's movin right along. Swing it wide to get around the telephone pole. Crazy wheels turn like champs. EERRRRRRRRRRRRRT(that's the sound kids make when they pretend they're hitting the brakes). Get used to it.



It cleared the pole, but the pile of wood debris that hasn't been moved to the burn pile is in the way. Get off, move pallet and junk.

There's a double gate leading into the pasture area. Swing it REAAALLLLY wide.


But not quite wide enough. It started rubbing the left pole. EERRRRRRRRRRRRRT OK, let's see how this puppy does in reverse. Hooray, the crazy wheels swing around. Now the 4-wheeler starts spinning tires

. What's going on? Awww crud, one of the crazy wheels hits a gusset and the left side is completly up against that pole

. I get off the 4-wheeler and walk around, no easy solution and WHAT'S THIS? It's blocking the only drive-way in and out? Double crud. Leaving it there while I think about it isn't an option, it's getting dark quick.


HMMMMMM, I'm a pretty big fellow. I wonder if I can scoot the rearend over? HEEEEAAAAVE. HMMMM, scooted it 4 inches. I need to go about 36 inches to get it to clear. There has to be an easier way....... THINKING, THinking, thinking.

NOPE, HEEEEAAAAVE, HEEEEAAAAVE, HEEEEAAAAVE, take a break, I'll spare the rest. (As I'm typing this up 14 hours later, the tractor was only 200 yards away.)

OK, it looks good and I got the stuck crazy wheel facing forward. Start moving again. EERRRRRRRRRRRRRT. Everything except the lever and winch clears. I'm so glad I put the tires on the inside. HEEEEAAAAVE.




Up to the game fence. That's more like it.


Now, for the real test of manuverability. This is where the tractor will reside when we're not watering or harvsting. After that little ordeal with the double gate, I'm a little LOT worried.


The plan, and the test I did by just dragging the frame through here, is to do 45 degree turns.


Hoorayyy, no problems on that one. Make the next 45 degree turn. EERRRRRRRRRRRRRT, HEEEEAAAAVE.


ALLLLRIIIIGHT. With a little practice this whole turning thin will be a breeze.

Here's a couple of pics of the tractor in place just cause I thought it was cool.




Oops. Oh well. At least I didn't get any pecans with it.


Her first resting spot. That's right by the house, just outside our bedroom window. Parked it there so we can hear things happenning if a predator decides to tempt its fate. It's also next to the yard the dog is in, an extra alarm in case the chicks aren't loud enough. (Me thinking to myself) "Waaait a minute, what if the dog barks at the chicks all night? HMMMmmm, he's been around them several times and hasn't barked during the day. MMAAAAYBE I'll get lucky and he'll behave."


We decided we wanted to put the chicks in there during the day so we can watch and get our comfort level up so they'll go in there tomorrow. There was a request for pics with the chicks in it so they'll get posted in a day or two.

It actually feels nice to be done before dark.

What's next? Glad you asked.



Cheers everybody.

 

[perchie.girl]

I am grinning from ear to ear.... Love the ending to the story.

Oh mannn Pecans. We hat three Pecan Trees in front of the house when we lived in Roswell. When we moved we packed two wardrobe boxes full of Pecans. We took them with us to Las Vegas where we lived for about two years... hem.... then when we moved to San diego we still had half a box left. Still good Still go nutzo for Pecans....

deb

 

[colburg]

WOOT WOOT!!!! Awesome! I can't wait to see it housing your chickens

OK, finally got some pics. Since I'd neglected my wife and kids for a couple weeks to get this tractor done, I've been playing and cooking and cleaning up outside. It was actually messy enough in front of the shop that I was embarassed so I know she was holding her tongue for a day or two before lashing out.

Here is one small temporary modification I made right after I put them in on Friday. In the middle of moving them, it started thundering pretty good. Then the wind picked up. About 20 minutes after getting them trasferred, a TORNADO warning was issued for our county.

WTH? 20 minutes. So I scrambled to throw something up.


Every evening they've been huddling up next to their feeder and I've been moving them into the secure sleeping area. When we let them out in the morning, it's almost like watching Braveheart. You can hear them yell "FRREEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!"


After a while they chill out.




When we go in to feed, it's like attack of the chickens.


I love wearing sandals when I'm not working, but I don't know if this is going to work every morning. No matter what you do with your toes, they're gonna get'em.


We especially have to watch out for this little girl. This is Hookbeak.

She's by far the friendliest one and will get right under your feet. I'm going to ask a few questions on the proper thread, but I'll ask here as well.
Is her lower beak short?
She's had "cottonmouth", don't know if that's what it really is, it's kinda like slime in the corners of her mouth. Is this normal? I'm kinda expecting her to not make it.
There is also a crossbeak of the same breed in this bunch. Are crossbeaks and hookbeaks random events, or genetic?

Everything we read mentioned clipping the beak, kinda like a dogs toenails. She's been having trouble at the feeder and is pecking at food all day. Oh yeah, she's probably less than half the weight of the next smallest chick. Here she is after we clipped her beak a bit.


I'll keep posting as feeders, waterers and nest boxes progress.

 

[colburg]

We've had our chicks(or are they chickens now?) in the tractor for about 1.5 weeks and we're starting to get a good feel for what we like and don't like about it.

Likes:
#1 for me is the height. When designing and playing with the cattle panels in the very beginning, we tried everything from 4' high up to 7' high in the middle. We ended up with about 6'8" in the middle and it's GREAT. I'm 6'2" and I have about 5' from side to side that I can enjoy before having to duck under the panels. We take our daughters out there to let them play and my wife and I will have a couple of beers talking chicken, all of us in the tractor.

Size: There are 48 eight week old chicks in there, and we can leave it in one spot for at least 4 days. Even then, there is still plenty of grass, but the shaded areas are eaten/worn down the the poop piles are growing in the shaded area. So we move it about 12' at a time even though the tractor is 32' long. This gets good grass under the entire tractor. There's room in there for everybody: 48 chickens, 2 kids, 2 adults, 2 cats, and 1 dog. I don't know why, but everybody likes to go in there with the chickens. The dog even lines up with the chickens to eat chicken food. I think he's a bit confused about his species, is there sucha a thing as species reassignment surgery?

Good protection from weather and predators, though the predator part is still in theory because nothings trid to get through or under yet. Except for one of the Great Horned Owls that lives in the orchard part of the year. He was looking for breakfast one evening but couldn't figure out how to get in. It's nice to know that it's bird proof. We have 2 GHO's, 2 Monkey face owls, several hundred buzzards and at least 3 golden eagles taking up residence in the orchard

. Though it does appear that the buzzards and eagles are just migrating through.

Sold Construcion: So far, no signs of breaking down.

Dis-likes:
Shade area: Like I said above, they congregate in the shady area most of the day. I plan on adding 2 more 8' pieces of siding(because it's what I have leftover) on the top of the tractor. If I were buying new, I'd probably make them 12 or 16 footers.

Forgetting the feed buckets in the tractor. A couple of beers and some chicken talkin, and poof, when you need the buckets in the shop the next day, they're in the tractor.

Size requires flat ground. If you don't have pretty flat ground, this isn't a good option for you. You could probably overcome this with some flexible skirting. We have a few spots in the pasture that either weren't laser leveled when everything else was, or it's gotten out of whack with everything else. A little hump anywhere along where the frame sits, and there will be a small gap under there. So far the highest we've seen is about 3/4".

Because of the way the tires were installed, the back lifts about 4 inches off the ground when the front is only 1 inch up. The chicks are still small enough to get out when moving. Hopefully this changes in the future as they grow, but it shouldn't be a problem when they're free-ranging full time.

The cats and several chickens like to climb up on top of the tractor. Not really a problem, unless you're under a chicken when it poops. I need to add one more support doorway in the middle because if too many chickens get up there at once it could possibly crumple down. I've tried pulling my self up on the cattle panels and it starts to collapse.


Others:
There are a couple small additions that I'll be doing soon and I'll post pics when they're done.

Anyway, there's a few thoughts for anyone interested.

 

[debir1966]

I actually wondered about the viability of a hoop run on uneven ground because where we want to put our chicken run is on a slope with the top of the slope (where the chicken house is) meeting up with the level ground. I may have to rethink using a hoop run sadly. My biggest thing is getting a covered area for the chicken for this winter (we already had snow dumped on us today, about 2 inches when we went out to do chores this morning). Maybe I can do the hoop run, covered, on the opposite side of the coop and make a path through the snow for them to get to it during daylight hours LOL (then I can use it as my grow-out pen for the meat chicks we raise!).


The turkeys looking for treats from my son this morning.