- Mar 10, 2009
- 63
- 0
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Hi All:
This is my first post - my compliments to all of you for the shear volume of excellent information availabe on this site!
Like many these days, my family is working on becoming more self-sufficient and this year we will be adding chickens to the plan. Our plan is to raise both layers and meaties, currently thinking we'll start small with 5 Cornish-X and 5 of another bread (any suggestions would be welcomed!) for meat and would like to house them in a tractor. That brings us to my questions:
1) We live in Central Oregon on 2.5 acres but the landscape is natural - meaning there is no lawn but rather natural ground that is sandy. The soil drains well and we don't get a lot of rain so I'm not worried about mud. What concerns should we have regarding the soil and tractor use?
2) We do have coyotes in the area, so one of my concerns is a tractor not having a floor - is this something I need to worry about and if so what would one do to minimize the risk? To minimize turn over probabilities I was planning on building the tractor with space in each side to place loose cinde blocks for added weight.
3) For 10 birds in a tractor does the 4 sq ft per bird hold true or should I be figuring on different numbers?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts - as a green-horn any and all advice is welcome!
This is my first post - my compliments to all of you for the shear volume of excellent information availabe on this site!
Like many these days, my family is working on becoming more self-sufficient and this year we will be adding chickens to the plan. Our plan is to raise both layers and meaties, currently thinking we'll start small with 5 Cornish-X and 5 of another bread (any suggestions would be welcomed!) for meat and would like to house them in a tractor. That brings us to my questions:
1) We live in Central Oregon on 2.5 acres but the landscape is natural - meaning there is no lawn but rather natural ground that is sandy. The soil drains well and we don't get a lot of rain so I'm not worried about mud. What concerns should we have regarding the soil and tractor use?
2) We do have coyotes in the area, so one of my concerns is a tractor not having a floor - is this something I need to worry about and if so what would one do to minimize the risk? To minimize turn over probabilities I was planning on building the tractor with space in each side to place loose cinde blocks for added weight.
3) For 10 birds in a tractor does the 4 sq ft per bird hold true or should I be figuring on different numbers?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts - as a green-horn any and all advice is welcome!