peekapeeka
In the Brooder
I'm looking for design help.
We currently have a fixed coop, but I want to make a tractor so we can move our chickens around to greener pastures when it's warm enough. We will use electric poultry netting for the run (and let them free range when they're far enough away from the lead paint...) It would be great if this thing could get moved by 2-4 adults, but we also have a farm tractor we can use to pull it up hills, etc, if need be.
My questions:
1) Would you make one tractor for everyone or build two to make it easier to move? They'll share a run and will share a winter coop.
2) Assuming 1 tractor, would 8'x9' be easier than 6x12?
3) If I make two, could I consolidate all 4 nest boxes into one of the tractors? I'm guessing both would need their own food and water...
4) Assuming the tractor is mostly hardware cloth with very few solid walls, when is it warm enough to let them sleep out there? It gets pretty windy here in the spring. 50s? 60s?
5) We're rural and there are predators here (dogs, bears, foxes, coyotes, hawks...) We haven't had any predator issues in the last year with our electric fence setup, but we've been careful to lock them in at night and they're fairly close to the house. How much protection do you think the electric fence might offer to the tractor(s) - I'm wondering about fold up hardware cloth panels, etc, for overnight. (Longer term, we'll have some farm dogs to help keep predators away, too.)
Thanks!
We currently have a fixed coop, but I want to make a tractor so we can move our chickens around to greener pastures when it's warm enough. We will use electric poultry netting for the run (and let them free range when they're far enough away from the lead paint...) It would be great if this thing could get moved by 2-4 adults, but we also have a farm tractor we can use to pull it up hills, etc, if need be.
My questions:
1) Would you make one tractor for everyone or build two to make it easier to move? They'll share a run and will share a winter coop.
2) Assuming 1 tractor, would 8'x9' be easier than 6x12?
3) If I make two, could I consolidate all 4 nest boxes into one of the tractors? I'm guessing both would need their own food and water...
4) Assuming the tractor is mostly hardware cloth with very few solid walls, when is it warm enough to let them sleep out there? It gets pretty windy here in the spring. 50s? 60s?
5) We're rural and there are predators here (dogs, bears, foxes, coyotes, hawks...) We haven't had any predator issues in the last year with our electric fence setup, but we've been careful to lock them in at night and they're fairly close to the house. How much protection do you think the electric fence might offer to the tractor(s) - I'm wondering about fold up hardware cloth panels, etc, for overnight. (Longer term, we'll have some farm dogs to help keep predators away, too.)
Thanks!