Chicken run and stumps

[Eco]

Here are the pictures of the stumps

the above shot is of the stumps themselves, and unfortunatly they are the size of a small car, probably above a ton each. Too much for my come a long and are escavator job.

The below shot is the area that the shed will nest up to them. then my idea is to build a run, not a big one, and the stumps wil take up much of the foot print, but i am thinking the birds will have more surface area to hang in than a flat 10x10 flat area

Thoughts?

M

 

[Dogfish]

Cedar? Time to start a fire. they are perfectly set to burn them out. Get a hose back there, keep an eye on them, and remove a few of the small trees in the immediate vicinity. Looks like 3 of them, maybe 2. Start the fire under them in a few spots.

We took out 5 cottonwoods. 5 huge stumps. 14 cords of wood. Used 4 cords just burning up the stumps.

Man that is rocky ground. Lovely forest in the background.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well some thoughts.
If you could level off the tops of those stumps you could use them in the base of your coop. Modify you coop design around the shape of the stumps. If you look at some of the "designer" coops on this site you'll get the idea.
If not you could center those stumps in the middle of your run and as long as it has a covering of something, poultry wire or what ever that would be fine. The chickens will have a ball digging into it as it decays.

 

[Eco]

Ones a ten year old jack pine the other 6 month old oak. My experience with burning stumps to nothin has always had limited success. Usaully ending up with just slightly smaller black stumps.

Will the chickens hide from my line of sight behind the stumps? Will they lays eggs up inside? If I can convince them to roost inside at night and not in the stumps will the eggs be layed inside in the am befoer door is open?

M

 

[gryeyes]

They might do both.

My chickens do not lay in the mornings before sun up. They go back into the coops to lay at various times of the day. It takes about 26 hours to "build" an egg, so those that lay daily will have the next one ready to lay a couple hours later than the day before. After a few days, they "reset" and lay earlier again, repeating the process.

As long as your run is covered, those stumps would be a wonderful play area for chickens. They'd also be great hiding places - for chickens in danger OR for Critters waiting to snatch one. So, if the fencing is secure and there's something covering the top of the run (like bird netting), there's less chance of Critters getting in there to hide.

 

[Dogfish]

The trick to burning stumps isn't to burn big, but to burn hot. Concentrate your fires, and if you do end up with smaller black stumps, they'll be easy to move. Give it a shot over the weekend, but do not use them for your foundation. The pine will likely go up in a blaze of glory, so start there and move to the oak. Just keep piling the wood under the stump, and burn from the bottom, don't set a fire in the top. Make the fire work for you.