Greetings all....
After having bought and read through 'Keeping Chickens for DUMMIES", I took the plunge and began preparations for some hens. My previous experience with chickens has only been limited to the dinner table and with a chef's knife, though I do have some other avian experience. Presently (April 2013) I have a nesting Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) in the owl house I built two and a half years ago. This is her second season of nesting here.
Additionally, I am the host to about 30 Eurasian tree sparrows, 4 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits, 2 European Robins (Erithacus rubecula), 2 Eurasian Blackbirds (Turdus merula), a few magpies and a multitude of other occasional avian species during the winter months. Many of the sparrows, tits, and the blackbirds and robins nest on my property in the many birdhouses I've built and hung.
Additionally I have a pair of nesting White Wagtails (Motacilla alba) that return from Africa each spring, to raise a clutch in a box I built a few years ago and a couple of pair of barn swallow that show up annually to nest as well. The place has become a real avian rearing place...
Decades ago, my first avian experience was raising two downy Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) while maintaining their wildness, for later release. That was an incredibly rewarding experience!
So now I've come full circle from raising 'chicken hawks' to raising chickens...
Having carved some new wooden spokes and some wheel arches in repairing one of two antique wheels, I set about designing and building a four-season (insulated) chicken tractor. Here is the presently almost finished product. Yet to come is a coat of paint, a few amenities for feeding and a group of hens willing to think of the place as their new digs.
The overall length of the 'run' is 3.2 meters and width is 1.3 meters, while the house floor dimensions are 1.2 meters x 1.3 meters plus two nesting boxes and a perch.
Myself, I am a transplant to Sweden from the eastern and drier hinterlands of the Pacific Northwest (Oregon) and have rooted myself here deeply while thriving. After having totally renovated and modernized an 1800's adobe house, I am now focused more on developing a 'food forest' environment on the remainder of the property. Additionally I have a greenhouse to finish building this summer (directly behind the chicken tractor in the photo above).
My education and love is in Fine Arts and particularly sculpture, which I will soon be able to jump back into 100%.
I've enjoyed reading through this website now for the past few months and soon will be able to add to the flavor of it as well.
After having bought and read through 'Keeping Chickens for DUMMIES", I took the plunge and began preparations for some hens. My previous experience with chickens has only been limited to the dinner table and with a chef's knife, though I do have some other avian experience. Presently (April 2013) I have a nesting Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) in the owl house I built two and a half years ago. This is her second season of nesting here.
Additionally, I am the host to about 30 Eurasian tree sparrows, 4 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits, 2 European Robins (Erithacus rubecula), 2 Eurasian Blackbirds (Turdus merula), a few magpies and a multitude of other occasional avian species during the winter months. Many of the sparrows, tits, and the blackbirds and robins nest on my property in the many birdhouses I've built and hung.
Additionally I have a pair of nesting White Wagtails (Motacilla alba) that return from Africa each spring, to raise a clutch in a box I built a few years ago and a couple of pair of barn swallow that show up annually to nest as well. The place has become a real avian rearing place...
Decades ago, my first avian experience was raising two downy Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) while maintaining their wildness, for later release. That was an incredibly rewarding experience!
So now I've come full circle from raising 'chicken hawks' to raising chickens...
Having carved some new wooden spokes and some wheel arches in repairing one of two antique wheels, I set about designing and building a four-season (insulated) chicken tractor. Here is the presently almost finished product. Yet to come is a coat of paint, a few amenities for feeding and a group of hens willing to think of the place as their new digs.
The overall length of the 'run' is 3.2 meters and width is 1.3 meters, while the house floor dimensions are 1.2 meters x 1.3 meters plus two nesting boxes and a perch.
Myself, I am a transplant to Sweden from the eastern and drier hinterlands of the Pacific Northwest (Oregon) and have rooted myself here deeply while thriving. After having totally renovated and modernized an 1800's adobe house, I am now focused more on developing a 'food forest' environment on the remainder of the property. Additionally I have a greenhouse to finish building this summer (directly behind the chicken tractor in the photo above).
My education and love is in Fine Arts and particularly sculpture, which I will soon be able to jump back into 100%.
I've enjoyed reading through this website now for the past few months and soon will be able to add to the flavor of it as well.
