Garden cart with hen house on top

[Mark]

Another couple of weekends worth of work.

This view shows the hen house interior getting framed in. All the hardware cloth is in place. There is a roost 'ladder', now. Though it is hard to see, there is another roost bar near the top. The plywood 'hanger' near the top holds it. The idea was to make it very difficult for a raccoon that happens to get in (someone forgets to close the door) to get all the chickens. At least any on the top rung ought to be out of reach. Maybe, maybe not. And, I don't know if the chickens can fly from the ladder to the 'ceiling roost.' All the roost bars will be easy to move should we want to adjust and nothing is attached to the side wall, so it will be easy to unscrew it and have full access.

This is the other side and shows the chicken doorway. The door itself is a plastic cutting board. The cutting board fits into a slot and slides in and out of the 'wall'. There will be a 'human' door here, too. It will be about 1/2 the side wall.

I've still got put in the human doors to hen house and yard, enclose the yard with chicken wire and put on the roofs.

As yet undesigned are the vent covers for rainy days and probably shade.

Mark

 

[Mark]

My list of things to do this weekend.

1. put steel poles in and bolt them down.
2. attach yard
3. Cut 'chicken portal' in back of yard
4. Add chicken ladder and landing on back of chicken yard.
5. paint unfinishded wood
6. add human door to yard,
7. add human door to hen house
8. add vent covers to henhouse
9. enclose the yard with chicken wire
10. add roof to yard
11. add roof to henhouse

 

[Mark]

Another weekend and we are getting closer to finishing.

I went ahead and put a provisional roof over the hen house. We put our two hens inside for the night. They figured out the ladder and flew to the highest rung as hoped.

The tractor is very mobile. One person can easily move it, though the wheels need to go back a few inches because it is pretty easy to drag the tail end on the ground.

Remaining tasks include:

1. Add a latch to the human yard-gate.
2. Attach yard roof (currently, metal is simply sitting on the frame)
3. Enclose the yard with chicken wire
4. Finish the hen house roof (plug the holes drilled by mistake)
5. Mount the wheels with metal brackets (and move the axis back 3 or 4 inches)
6. Add vent covers to hen house
7. Winter box
8. Nest boxes.
9. I guess it would be nice to paint the exterior a different color, but I have no idea what color (color scheme) would be best.

I'm still uneasy about the hen house roof. As designed, I didn't add any eaves for over-hang. Being in Texas, the hen house was designed for summer heat and spring thunderstorms. They are very hot, so ventilation was the primary issue. I haven't worried about rain or snow a great deal. Our winters are not very cold, getting down to 15 at the lowest and that is only for a night or two. The current plan is to put a 'winter' box in the bottom of the hen house and let the hens huddle there for warmth on the coldest days of winter.

As to the thunderstorms, if a cyclone blows through, everything including my house goes. I don't want the typical thunderstorm to blow the thing over. Eaves will only make it easier for the wind to blow the thing away, so I just left them off. Looking at the thing though, rain will blow right through the hen house.

There is a chance of thunder storms, tonight. Maybe we will get a sense of what needs to change in the morning...

As for nest boxes, they are currently planned for a corner of the yard, but I haven't worried about them a great deal.

 

[Reinbeau]

That is an awesome idea! How many birds do you think you can keep in that? I've got a garden cart similar to what you started with, my father made it, it's extremely sturdy - I could do the same thing! Your plans are great, when you're finished, could you post the completed product?

 

[texaschickmama]

Mark, that is an awesome idea. Love the idea of being able to move it around, just think you could place it over where you plan on gardening next spring, perfect fertilizer. I see you are in North Texas so you are close enough to come and build me one.

 

[Mark]

Quote:
I've been wondering that myself. I'm hoping 12 can fit inside at night, since we will be getting 10 newly hatched chicks in 3 weeks. Our 6th grader is doing a 4H project.

 

[Mark]

Quote:
Thanks for the encouragement!

Yes, the yard can be dropped over sections of the garden. We might try that out soon, since the garden is pretty much done for the year. I'm looking forward to housing the hens down in the orchard next spring. The orchard is 'organic', so I need all the help I can get controlling the bugs.

 

[Mark]

Another weekend. Progress seems to have slowed, but I spent almost as much time as the last 2 weekends. This weekend, granddaughter got me to spend 6 hours trying to get our new MP3 player to download some music she couldn't live without. I had been putting it off for three weeks.

Here's the to-do's as I started:
1. Enclose the yard with chicken wire
2. Fir the chicken wire
3. Add the forgotten bottom edge to the hen house
4. Paint unfinished wood.
5. Add a latch to the human yard-gate.
6. Attach yard roof (currently, metal is simply sitting on the frame)
7. Plug the hen house roof holes drilled by mistake)
8. Mount the wheels with metal brackets (and move the axle back 3 or 4 inches)

We completed 1-5. 6-8 remain for next weekend.

The photos don't show much change, but the tractor actually works, now. The hens have started getting used to the tractor. They leave in the morning, laying eggs in the old tractor. In the early evening, they come back for a snack in the yard. We shut them in and around dark they climb up in the roost.

DW doesn't think the screen floor (1/2" hardware cloth) very useful, and has covered it with hay. She finds it more trouble to push poop through the screen as to scoop it off the hay. We have talked about building the water and feed dispensors into the 'yard wall'. I am ready to design something new, but she isn't sure anything needs to be done.

The new 4H club chicks come Nov 19th.

Watching the birds figure out the 'high prestige' spots in the hen house is fun. It seems the middle rung, between the vertical supports is 'the spot'. The hens argue over who gets it, and the top hen gets the stop (as shown here). Most nights they sleep on a higher roost, up and to the right in the picture. Don't know why they settled here, tonight.

Here is next weekends projects:
1. Attach yard roof (currently, metal is simply sitting on the frame)
2. Plug the hen house roof holes drilled by mistake)
3. Mount the wheels with metal brackets (and move the axis back 3 or 4 inches)

Ideas with no particular time frame:
4. Add vent covers to hen house
5. Winter box
6. Nest boxes.
7. I guess it would be nice to paint the exterior a different color, but I have no idea what color (color scheme) would be best.
8. Build food and water into the yard wall.

 

[Mark]

I finished screwing down the roof and attaching the metal wheel mounts (and wheels), yesterday. It really doesn't look any different than it did last week.

I moved the wheel axle back 6" and the balance was all wrong. The thing must weight 200 - 300 pounds, now. Moving the axle back put 50 or 60 pounds on the handles. I ended up moving the axle only 3" inches back. That put about 20-30 pounds on the handle. I wanted more weight up front for stability in wind and with the old axle position the back of the hen house was hitting the ground too often when moving the tractor.

For what it is worth, I'm done! Thanks for the support! The ideas and comments have been invaluable.

Of course, work on the tractor will continue... at some point.

First of all, DW has bought some paint. I know better than to ask what she has in mind. I'll post a picture when she is finished.

Next, the 1/2" hardware wire on the bottom isn't working as planned. I thought the poop would easily 'fall through' to the screen to the ground. It doesn't. It seems that we would be better off with a plywood or metal floor laid out with a door such that it is easy to sweep the future fertilizer into a waiting wheel barrow.

Third, one of our dogs has taken a fancy to chicken food. If we leave the 'yard' gate open, the dog helps herself to the chicken food. I either need to put in a chicken sized 'yard door' or move the 'yard gate to the roof.

Fourth, I'd like to put the food and water into a box attached to the yard wall. The box would be designed to allow easy 'refills'. Since it would be attached to the wall, it would make preparations for moving the tractor go quicker.

Five, we will need nest boxes. Currently, the hens use the old tractor to lay eggs. Eventually, we will need to decide what purpose the old tractor should serve (and where).

Six, winter preparations. We need either a way to shut the screen windows, or an interior box for shelter. Maybe covering the windows with plastic would work. Generally, we don't get a freeze here until a litte after Thanksgiving, so I've got a few weeks to get it done.

Seven, we may decide to move the axle back to where it was during construction. Having a feather light handle was very nice and we may decide we need it back.. I can remodel the hen house bottom so it wouldn't hit the ground so often. Also, getting the tractor up a slope may require a couple of people and a way for multiple people to lean into the thing and push. For journeys to the lower pasture, it might be nice to hitch the thing to our pickup and let the pickup do the work.

 

[3peeps]

Quote:
Smart man! I've stopped requiring my husband's opinion...it matters to me but he'd rather be left to enjoy his day!

Third, one of our dogs has taken a fancy to chicken food. If we leave the 'yard' gate open, the dog helps herself to the chicken food. I either need to put in a chicken sized 'yard door' or move the 'yard gate to the roof.

Is it possible to put some bait chicken food out for her that's laced with something nasty like Bitter Apple flavoring or some other deterrent? It might not work, but if it did it would save a lot of future hassle. My dad used hot pepper when my childhood dog was eating the paper coating off the drywall and ventured to dangerous things like wiring.​