How to keep chickens dry in a tractor? Help!

[manicfarmer]

I am in the same exact situation. I live in South/East Texas and have two chicken tractors and they are tarped on the roof. I have had similar concerns. My grass is holding up pretty well because I have really good drainage in that pasture but when I move them in the morning (sometimes in the rain) it is soppy. I started with 30 for my first tractor (10 Red Rangers, 10 BR and 10 DC). I am actually going to cull my Red Rangers at 12 weeks. They are 10 weeks now and pretty darned huge compared to the rest of the flock. My flock seems to like the water. The first place they go when I open the tractor door for them to free range is to the closest puddle to drink up. Sometimes I see them grazing in the rain. When are you planning on culling your Red Rangers? I got mine from McMurray and their site says they are ready at 12 weeks.

 

[machinfarm]

We got ours from Murray too. I'm aiming at 12 weeks to cull as well but we got a straight run of 15 (lost two) and ended up with 6 roosters so they might have to go sooner if they start fighting too much. They are 6 weeks tomorrow but so big. We have one Egyptian fayoumi the same age and she is only 1/3 their size, though she is feisty and can totally hold her own.

We had a chicken get the runs around the time they were really standing in muck all day long. I couldn't tell who it was as no one had nasty vent feathers but there was orangey brown diarrhea in the tractor. I started adding extra ACV to their water and went back to fermented feed for awhile and the strange poop eventually stopped appearing. Otherwise they seem no worse for having been in the wet so long and thankfully we've had a three day reprieve of the rain.

 

[manicfarmer]

Kind of funny, we have a very similar management style, chose similar tractor designs and some of the same birds. I ordered straight run of 10 and lost 2 as well. Of those 10, 4 are male and 4 are female. They all live in a fairly small tractor. I am observing the 2 sq foot per bird rule considering they free range during the day and the fact that the males will be culled from the flock frequently as they mature making more room than that for the flock as they grow. So far all of my males have gotten along pretty well (knock on wood). I have a barred rock that is a bit of a terrorist. He bullies any chicken below him in the order. Grabs them by their neck and drags them around the yard for sometimes as long as 30-45 seconds. Ends up with a bunch of feathers in his mouth. He won't dare mess with a chicken above him though. Outside of that, the males are getting along nicely. I spent ten minutes today catching him to examine his body fat after he bullied a chicken in the pasture. He will definitely be going a little sooner than I would prefer because of his behavior. If nothing else I may just have to turn him into chicken broth.

I too got a Fayoumi with my first batch of chicks as my "free exotic". He is a male and started crowing at 7 weeks. Definitely the best looking bird in the flock. Much smaller than all the other birds (except the Dark Cornish, they are bantams) but he is at the top of the hiearchy.in the flock. I saw him standing up to one of the white rocks the other day (free warmer chicks that were sent from mcmurray) and they are at the top of the flock. He beat that bird at there little stand off matchup hands down. The white rock made a move to pounce on the Fayoumi's head and the Fayoumi dodged the pounce and turned it into an offensive move and then had the larger chicken by the neck as he walked him around the pasture for about 10 seconds. When he let go the white rock retreated. My Fayoumi holds his own as well. I would kind of like to keep him but that may complicate things come breeding season.

Are you planning on keeping any of your female Red Rangers? I originally planned on mine for meat birds exclusively but some have reported that they can be good layers. I thought I may give my Red Ranger hens a shot at laying and see how they do. From what I have read people are reporting it is hit or miss. Some are really good layers, other don't lay consistently at all.

 

[machinfarm]

It's very funny how much we have in common! I just noticed this evening one rooster is getting picked on, missing feathers on the tops of his wings and back of his neck. I'll have to keep an eye on him.
We don't intend to keep any for eggs as my son is allergic to them. (In fact, the reason we even got into this chicken venture is because he is allergic to milk, eggs, and all mammal meats so poultry and fish are pretty much all we have!) We're actually considering Naked Necks/Turkens next as I've heard they grow to be bigger than Red Rangers (although they take 20 weeks to do so) and they will go broody quite easily. We were hoping to set up something more self sustaining and breed our own, but we are complete novices on that. At this point though we only have the tractor, nothing more substantial for winter, but I've read a little about wintering in a tractor with a deep litter and a few other steps and I think we might be able to make it happen. We'll see. So far this has been quite a fun experience, and I am so anxious to try some of our home grown chicken!

 

[manicfarmer]

Yeah, maybe the rainy conditions is starting to frustrate some of the birds so they are pecking. I had pecking issues with both my flocks in the brooder but since I put them in the tractors there hasn't been anymore pecking. One of the things I ended up doing in the brooder because I had a few bloody chicks and they were all keying on the blood, I put wheel axle grease on the wounds. After pecking that a couple of times they decided they would find something tastier. I hate to say it but hopefully you get some relief from the downpours. We are either in a drought or getting so much rain the soil can't absorb it. Yesterday I ran to town and we got a downpour of a few inches in an hour. I came back and one of the tractors was sitting in about 3 inches of water. I had to move it again to higher ground.

My management goals are very similar. Trying out different chicks to see what we like best. We plan on trying out some breeding just to keep us in birds for eggs and meat. We got some Old English Games and Dark Cornish for broody mothers so we will see how that works out. Like you, I don't really have a game plan for winter. I figure I can play it by ear. In the south they are really light anyhow so I have until probably around December until I have to kick my winter plans into gear. I figure I can either put some cover on the sides of my tractor to keep wind shear down. I am also kicking around the idea of building a reusable greenhouse that can be taken down and reassembled every winter. I have read about folks wintering them in their greenhouse with good results. I like that idea because then I could use my tractors for coops for new chicken families. Any and everything is subject to change as I figure out more. Like yourself, I am really enjoying the experience and can't wait to cook up my first bird.