We just can't keep our 16 ten day old white rock meat birds in the garage any longer so we built a 8x4 hoop tractor for them.
The rig seems secure enough. We've zip tied and staple gunned every place that we thought looked vulnerable. The frame is 2x6 with pvc ribs (or whatever the curvy bits that form the roof are called) and 1/2 inch hardware cloth covering everything. We've overlapped at the joints and corners. There's a 18 inch skirt surrounding it all, which is stapled to the frame and held down at the outer edge with bricks and large concrete slabs. We're confident
it's secure, but I guess time will tell.
We have a light inside for heat / comfort and a tarp over half to keep the heat in. Inside there is an inverted rubbermaid tub with shavings where they will sleep until they're fully feathered. I figure they'll produce enough heat to stay warm since it will be 20 celcius overnight for the next little bit. I'm planning to block the rubbermaid entrance at night to keep them in there because in all likelyhood they'll want to walk toward the light.
We don't tend to see a lot of predators around here, but we did have three layers taken in the spring. We've not had any problems since, but that doesn't mean they're not around. There's the scattered skunk, raccoon and porcupine, and there's definitely feral cats around.
So...anything we've missed??? Anything we should be doing differently? Can we sleep soundly tonight?
The rig seems secure enough. We've zip tied and staple gunned every place that we thought looked vulnerable. The frame is 2x6 with pvc ribs (or whatever the curvy bits that form the roof are called) and 1/2 inch hardware cloth covering everything. We've overlapped at the joints and corners. There's a 18 inch skirt surrounding it all, which is stapled to the frame and held down at the outer edge with bricks and large concrete slabs. We're confident
We have a light inside for heat / comfort and a tarp over half to keep the heat in. Inside there is an inverted rubbermaid tub with shavings where they will sleep until they're fully feathered. I figure they'll produce enough heat to stay warm since it will be 20 celcius overnight for the next little bit. I'm planning to block the rubbermaid entrance at night to keep them in there because in all likelyhood they'll want to walk toward the light.
We don't tend to see a lot of predators around here, but we did have three layers taken in the spring. We've not had any problems since, but that doesn't mean they're not around. There's the scattered skunk, raccoon and porcupine, and there's definitely feral cats around.
So...anything we've missed??? Anything we should be doing differently? Can we sleep soundly tonight?
