Mini-van-coop-fire evacuation-mobile, PREDATOR BREAK IN!

[jrsckn]

That is SOO like me!!! Name a project - I probably got halfway through before I realized that I was missing a vital piece and had to stop and backup.

I think that I'd be temped to go 'deep litter' on their little selves and just keep tossing shavings in there till they were ready to come out. Then just leave the bedding there once it's empty (ta-da! new compost pile).

That would be nice but I've noticed my meaties would be up to the ceiling with as much bedding as I would have to toss in on a daily basis

And for some reason, they enjoy dust bathing in the wettest, most soiled bedding

 

[BigWilly]

Hey Hummingbird! Just saw your thread. What a cool set up you have! I’m excited to see how the wheels work for ya.
I was skeptical on mine all the way up until I moved it. Once I did, I couldn’t believe how well this simple design worked.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Hey Hummingbird! Just saw your thread. What a cool set up you have! I’m excited to see how the wheels work for ya.
I was skeptical on mine all the way up until I moved it. Once I did, I couldn’t believe how well this simple design worked.

I've got the parts (I think) I'll need and have cut the lever arms for both sides. I want to install one and make sure I have the holes drilled in the right place before I do the second one...which will mean un-installing the first one to use as a template. Thanks for posting that link. It was EXACTLY what I needed.

 

[HEChicken]

I think that I'd be temped to go 'deep litter' on their little selves and just keep tossing shavings in there till they were ready to come out. Then just leave the bedding there once it's empty (ta-da! new compost pile).

Seems to me that would defeat the purpose of a tractor which surely is to let them get a substantial amount of their daily diet from grazing rather than having to feed them every bite they eat. If the whole thing becomes full of deep litter, they won't have access to the ground underneath and therefore will become rather higher maintenance birds again.

 

[JakeBremer]

They will only be up off the ground when she is moving the tractor, then when she gots it in place, She lowers the wheels, then wala. they ot grass.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

My husband and I managed to move the whole contraption 12 feet BACKWARDS today to fresh pasture. We need to install those wheels and rebuild/reinforce the front piece that attaches to the tractor hitch before we try to move it forwards. We borrowed from the ancient Egyptians and slid two pieces of PVC pipe under the tractor and used the van to push it backwards the length of the tractor so it is completely off the grass they've been sitting on for the past three days.

Unfortunately we are in a pretty severe drought. I don't think it has rained in a month, so the pickings aren't very lush in the area the tractor is parked. However, there is some grass and at least they aren't laying around in their own poo. I added a second tarp so not almost all of the tractor is in shade. It is so hot even at 10:00AM that all the chicks were huddled into the shady corner. Now they're moving around more.

 

[ONSTAD1]

How are you doing?

Mo

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

This is just amazing. I think the wheels should help keep the board from draging the poop around. Great idea. I'am very impressed.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

How are you doing?
Mo

What a crazy two days I've had and thank God for the Mini-van coop. Yesterday, as many of you may know, a wildfire started in Waldo Canyon near Colorado Springs. I was alerted to it mid-morning and started putting stuff like photo albums and wedding dresses in boxes "just in case". Around noon...maybe a bit later...everything is a blur...we got the mandatory evacuation order. Long story short, we evacuated our two older children down to Colorado Springs with our two dogs and cat (my youngest child was due into Denver International Airport from a month's student exchange in Korea but that's a longer story) while my husband and I started looking for places to evacuate 8 layer hens an 35 five-week-old Freedom Rangers.

We had a wonderful BYC member offer us shelter at her property East of Colorado Springs, but with the temperatures in the 98 degree range and no air-conditioning in the Mini-van coop AND the fact that the front windows no longer open AND the fact that it had hardly moved for 2 years, AND the fact that it was bumper to bumper traffic down Highway 24 I decided to instead take shelter with a friend who lived about a mile away, but on the other side of a 4 lane highway and a creek from the fire.

We stuffed the Freedom Rangers in the back of the mini-van coop, put the big chickens in a big dog crate in the back of our other van and drove to our friend's place and got them settled in for the night. In the morning we were told that the area we were in was under voluntary evacuation. We made ready (my friend has 2 horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 parakeets, 8 chickens and a duck) planning on moving the animals another 5 miles up the road. When the mandatory message came by phone we loaded everyone up and headed to this ranch, only to be told that the evacuation area had expanded once again.

Now we're in Evergreen, Colorado, at my sister-in-law's place. The Freedom Rangers are all bedded down in the mobile mini-van coop and the 8 big girls are in the garage (one of them managed to fly up and sit on TOP of the automatic garage door-opener) I'll post some photos once I find the camera.

Tired, sweaty, dirty but everyone's safe. Tomorrow we'll figure out what to do next.

 

[joan1708]

Oh my! Thanks for sharing your story Hummingbird. Good luck to you and all your neighbors! Please keep us posted if you can and I'll be watching for the picture of the chicken roosting on the garage door opener!