building a chicken "grass salad bar" in the run.

[WoodlandWoman]

A couple of members have posted about transferring their chickens to a daytime tractor and putting them back in the coop at night. One person actually designed their tractor and run for that purpose. They installed guillotine style doors, so the tractor and run could be right up against each other for a smooth transition. They used scratch as a bribe to get the chickens into the tractor. After a day or two, the chickens were eager to get into the tractor, because they liked the fresh grass.

 

[cabincrazyone]

Quote:
There's a member here that made tractors I like. I looked for it yesterday with no luck. I think it's on an administrator's BYC page featuring tractors. Anyway it's made from conduit and hardware cloth. Two feet high and quite large (12x16?), (but I'd make one a lot smaller for daytime foraging). The point is, I seem to remember he keeps them in there permanently, just continues to move it around to fresh patches.

 

[cabincrazyone]

Me & My Peeps :

I was recently looking at the website for Sands Hill Preservation Center and seen that they sell seed just for chickens!!

Thanks for that link.

 

[mudpaw]

Quote:
I plan to build some collapse-able "A" frame chicken tractors for my girls to use in my front yard when my garden is dormant (they have a large stationary coop/run as well). I'm going to draw up plans, but they are a simple enough design- make two rectangles (mine will be pvc pipe), cover them with wire of choice, hinge them together at the top, making a bottom less triangle when spread apart. Then fashion triangles to go on each end...and voila! a ark type collapse-able tractor (you'll need a nest box in there too-I plan to use sideways milk crates that clip in to one end).

 

[cleoandtheo]

I had planned to build a tractor, but once we had them free ranging in the yard a while, I couldn't see the point. We don't really have daytime predators to worry about, and the chickens don't do any damage to the yard that I need to control. They move around a lot and eat a little here, a little there.... Plus, I would have had to build a BIG tractor, because I would have wanted one big enough that I could sit in it & visit with them. It just seems unnecessary now for our suburban situation.

 

[hwxeper]

Is it ok to place bantams in a tractor? I thought because they are smaller they may adjust better to the confines of a tractor versus a standard breed.
I don't want to get too-far off the topic of the original thread, so what else does everyone give their chickens for greens? I remember seeing something that someone posted about planting greens like spinach around the outer perimeter of the coop so that you can just clip leaves off and throw them over the fence for the chickens, and when you clean the poo out of the coop, you can just throw some of the poo on the ground where you grow your greens and mix it in. Does anyone see a problem with this?
Someone else said to plant a mulberry tree close to the coop/run because chickens loved the berries. What other bushes/trees/plants do you guys grow primarily for a natural food source for your chickens? Where do you grow these things (such as in the run, somewhere outside of the run, just in what proximity to the coop/run)?
I would love to know! Thanks!

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

Quote:
You would want to have the poo sit awhile so that it doesn't burn your plants. But yes I have heard that their poo is great compost.

 

[hwxeper]

How long would you say is "awhile"? Are we talking days, weeks or months? And what do you mean by "burn"?

 

[spartacus_63]

Plus, I would have had to build a BIG tractor, because I would have wanted one big enough that I could sit in it & visit with them.

Me too!!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You can grow any kind of greens that you would grow for people to eat. Swiss chard, spinach, kale, collards, leaf lettuce, etc. I grow most of those. Some grow better in cool weather, some grow better in hot weather and some grow in all weather. Swiss chard comes in lots of pretty colors, so I even have that in a pot or a flower bed. You can harvest the outer leaves and leave the center to continue growing throughout the year. Plus, it's delicious! I often harvest leaf lettuce that way, also, although it gets too hot for it here in the summer. They're all really good for you to eat, too!

I try to plant things in different spots all over the yard. Greens, fruit, herbs, clover, veggies. Mine like everything! You could really just buy seeds or plants for any fruit or vegetable and it would be a success for chickens. Herbs, some of them can be more strong tasting, so that's more iffy on how the chickens will like it. Anything else, you really can't go wrong. Especially any greens or any fruits, especially berries. Grapes, strawberries, raspberries that grow like weeds, it's all good. Big tough things, like pumpkins or winter squash are good, too, but you often have to split them open to help the chickens get started.

The chickens will wander the yard, grazing on things. Sometimes over-grazing.

They will even jump up in the air to pick berries off of a bush that are too high to eat when standing on the ground. I have acres of land that is very heavily planted, lots of leaf litter that has a wealth of insects/worms and not a big flock anymore, so this works for me.

Other things I have planted in restricted areas, that they can't get to. That way I get my share! I may let them in at certain times or I may harvest from that area and give it to them.

We have a garden bed along one side of the run. I've also planted climbing things on part of the run.

In the growing season they free range so I just let them go eat what they want and need during the day. During the winter, that's when I start taking things out to the coop for them, like wheat grass and sprouts.