50 CHICKEN chicken tractor!! Pics and Progress!

[colburg]

This doesn't really have anything to do with the coop, of the chickens, other than this will be the spring, summer, and fall home for them. I just thought it was too pretty not to share.

 

[jester8484]

great build thread. I love a good write up.

 

[groverlvchx]

Colburg, I love the way you write! Thanks for the entertaining and informative read.

 

[colburg]

great build thread. I love a good write up.

Colburg, I love the way you write! Thanks for the entertaining and informative read.

Thanks a lot. It's pretty eas to do a good/fun write-up when you're having fun. That plus a little feed back is great. I'm almost done with nesting boxes and have made a couple of other changes that are coming soon.

Cheers,

 

[colburg]

Well, the nest boxes have been installed for about 2 months, but I just remembered to take the camera out to get some pics.

It's really pretty simple. A couple of 5 gallon buckets fit in between the support beams on my tractor perfect. These are roll away nest boxes, so the eggs roll back into the box and makes for extra easy egg collection. We've found that these 4 nests for 36 layers is just right. I'll add 2 more since we ordered a few more layers. Why have unused space when we're selling every egg that gets laid(minus our own eating of course).








The only problem we've had with these so far is that something is cracking an occasional egg. We thought it might be mice or a rat, but there's no way for them to get into the boxes without going through the coop. Raccoons? Could have been, but the latches are pretty secure and there's no foot prints in the dirt or scratch marks on the boxes. Chickens? Surely it's not the chickens. Aww crud. My wife finally busted one of the chickens with its head sticking out of the back of the bucket into the egg box. The first(easiest) solution will be to hang up a naugahyde curtain so that they can't see what's behind the curtain. If that doesn't work, the next step will be to lengthen the box so that the eggs won't stack up within reach of the chickens. They're currently 8" long so I may add 4-6".

You can see in the pic below how they stack up. The egg circled in red could never get there by itself. It had help from a chicken head trying to roll it back up.



I'll get some pics from inside the coop showing the inside of the nest.

 

[colburg]

For the winter, I added some clear greenhouse panels. I also did a little extra work when installing the next boxes to include a window to allow for better ventilaiton when summer comes.




I only shut the inner coop door if the temp got below 20, or if it was below freezing and windy.

We've had them in the orchard for about a month now. The rye is still green so they're getting extra munchies out there and don't need quite as much feed. I can't wait for spring so we can watch them chase bugs.

 

[Poultra]

Oh, very nice build! Love the nest boxes, if I may ask - what is the blue material? It looks like it does a great job cushioning the eggs.

 

[colburg]

Oh, very nice build! Love the nest boxes, if I may ask - what is the blue material? It looks like it does a great job cushioning the eggs.

It's a Nest Pad. The little stickies on the pads do have a direction to them. Just orient it so that the eggs roll with the "grain", not against.

These are the only 2 sources I could find for them. The price for McMurrays is higher, but with shipping prices, they became the cheaper option.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/plastic_nest_pads.html

http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_102&products_id=682

 

[CarriesPeeps]

Awesome tractor!

 

[Caseyvdb]

I like the idea of just a hen house without an enclosed run, but we have too many coyotes and foxes to not have the option of keeping them locked up on occasion. How do you deal with predators?

How many nests do you have for 100 layers?

Thanks,

Maremma dogs stands guard over the chickens and goats and they are the best and cheap security