Justin Rhodes Chick shaw

[Fisherlmiranda]

Anyone watch YouTuber Justin Rhodes? If you don't you should! Anyway was wondering if anyone on BYC has built his movable coop called a chick shaw? He gave away free plans and I downloaded them. Have plans to build once the weather warms up and have chicks ordered for delivery on May 20th! We also ordered a guard goose, I'm over the moon excited. Plan to move the chickens around our cow pasture to improve it.

 

[CindyinSD]

How is your meat bird and the tractors going?

They’re doing great. It was (shouldn’t have been) still too cold for them not to have heat, but they were too big to stay inside. I had to put them out. I added four heat lamps and tarped the open ends. They had over a foot of snow and high winds shortly after I put them out but they were fine. Then a couple weeks ago we had another 18”. Seriously. I measured it with a thin metal ruler, and that was after it had settled for a few hours. Both times I had to shovel snow in order to move them—and believe me, they needed moving!

These birdies poop a LOT. The grass recovers beautifully after a week or so—though I’m sure all the rain does help. Here are pictures. I love these tractors. I’m building one more (3 total) now, then I think I’m done. One is for meaties, one for my layers and the third is for babies who need a place to go since my chicken yard is submerged. I’ll use it later for turkeys.

 

[Cyprus]

I watch him! He is great! Let me know how the build goes

 

[Redhead Rae]

Do you use them in the winter?

I did last winter but decided against it this year. Last year, it was so cold the wheels froze to the ground and I couldn’t move it and the poop build up inside was so bad it ripped the wire off the bottom when we tried to move it. Lost a cockerel to a possum because we couldn’t get the coop fixed soon enough. I’m fixing to primarily work with permanent fencing and coops and only work mobile systems in the other 3 seasons of the year.

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

Heres how its going! My husband built this awesome brooder that disassembles and can lay flat against the wall when not in use. He used this video as a jump off point but built ours 6'x3', the chicks and goslings are in there for now. And the chickshaw is about half built.

 

[FortCluck]

I'm building on right now but it's more open like his sheep shaw. I used metal roofing and I'm using sturdy fencing we have left over. We only need it for 14 weeks at a time. I plan on doing one for the turkeys too in March when they arrive.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I’ve built a couple chickshaws similar to his. I like them.

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

I’ve built a couple chickshaws similar to his. I like them.

Do you use them in the winter?

 

[CindyinSD]

I have the plans... They’re so cool, but I haven’t decided for sure whether to use them. I kind of don’t think I will. Counting up the roost space he provides for, I think it would be okay for a bedroom only for my 17 layers. The problem is that we have very long days in summer. I’m not getting up at 4:30am every morning to open the door for them. Not happening. Soooo, they’re gonna need a roomier coop.

I bought materials to make one of John Suskovich’s walk-in tractors for some Color Yield chicks I’ve ordered (meat birds), and if I like it, I’ll likely make a couple more as portable coops (not for confinement-style pasturing) for the layers and for the heritage turkeys I also ordered. I’ll let the new layer chicks stay in the permanent coops and yards all summer as they grow up.

The Suskovich tractors will provide shelter for the meaties, the mature layers and the turkeys as they follow my three heifers around their progressive grazing adventures (hopefully eating up all the fly larvae and spreading out the cow patties as they go.) That’s the plan, anyway.

I’ll be interested how the chickshaw works for you. Maybe I’ll find a use for it at some point. Hope so.

 

[CindyinSD]

Justin Rhodes did a video with him on his great American farm tour. Really nice design. He uses them for meaties, but no reason they wouldn’t work for all sorts of things. His book is very good... very thorough instructions, shopping, cutting list. We’ll be starting on it first warm day. Soon, I hope.