The Last of the Meaties are gone: Looking Forward

[jaku]

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Yeah, the wind could be an issue. I've had wind push mine before, but never lift it off. Although, I have heard stories of people with kite-tractors! On windy days, I take pieces of rebar and pound it a couple of inches into the ground through the hardware cloth, which keeps it down really well. You can also put blocks on top of them. If you can figure a way to get past the wind, it is REALLY worth it to make them light. My last one, made from 2x2's, OSB, hardware cloth, and corrugated roofing, was so heavy that it was awful to move it, and was almost impossible to move without adding wheels. I sold that thing after one season!

 

[3KillerBs]

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How much ground would be required to use your smaller-size tractor with 25 meaties to bring them to the point of butchering? And how long until you can reuse the same ground?

 

[Buster52]

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Yeah, the wind could be an issue. I've had wind push mine before, but never lift it off. Although, I have heard stories of people with kite-tractors! On windy days, I take pieces of rebar and pound it a couple of inches into the ground through the hardware cloth, which keeps it down really well. You can also put blocks on top of them. If you can figure a way to get past the wind, it is REALLY worth it to make them light. My last one, made from 2x2's, OSB, hardware cloth, and corrugated roofing, was so heavy that it was awful to move it, and was almost impossible to move without adding wheels. I sold that thing after one season!

Okay. I'll study on it, see if I can make it work.

 

[3KillerBs]

PS -- is it thoroughly dog-proof? I've never liked the look of the PVC ones with the plastic netting on account of being fairly sure that one of the beagles that roam our yard in defiance of the town's leash laws (not to mention the rottie/shepherd mix next door or the big, shaggy mutt on the other side), would go straight through without a moment's delay.

 

[bigredfeather]

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How much ground would be required to use your smaller-size tractor with 25 meaties to bring them to the point of butchering? And how long until you can reuse the same ground?

The math says a little over 2500 sqft. That's assuming you moved it everyday for 8 weeks and only moved it 9' a day. I don't move it everyday when they're smaller, but I move it more than 9' each move. As far as reusing the same ground, it depends. The more rain you get, the quicker the poo disapates. I never use the same ground twice, as I have plenty of room. You may be able to reuse the ground from where it was the first two weeks, but I think it would be tough. If you moved it more than once a day, I think reusing the same ground may be doable. If it sits in the same spot for more than a day from week 5 to week 8, the ground will be caked with a large amount of poo.

 

[Buster52]

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Mine will be, although I have 4 special security adaptations for mine. They are called 3 Great Pyrs and a Black Lab.

Seriously, though, I see Jaku mentions using hardware cloth, which would make a big difference in security I would guess.

Jaku, do you use regular zip ties for yours? I would think those would be hard to get through the squares in the cloth. Reason I'm asking is I'm getting ready to build a catfish tractor for my pond this weekend and think PVC might be the way to go if I can make it work.

 

[bigredfeather]

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If you use 1"x1" welded wire on the sides and the hardwire cloth around the bottom, I would say it is pretty much dog proof. No 100% guarentee, but I think it would be tough. Given enough time and enough determination by a big dog, it may be able to chew thru it. I would guess the dogs mouth would be really tore up, but it is possible. Not likely, but possible. I live 30 yards from a 36 acre woods that has coons, foxes, and coyotes and have never had any problems. If you are concerned, you could put wire on the inside and the outside. That would make it a bit more expensive, but I think it would seal the deal on predator proofing.

 

[bigredfeather]

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I am supposed to be getting a pair GP's very soon. My mind will be put to ease after that.

 

[jaku]

My tractor isn't dog proof- anything could dig underneath it. I live in the middle of about 200 acres of Michigan woods, so I thought predators would be a huge problem. However, I've never seen a single one anywhere near my birds. Just in case, I used hardware cloth on the sides, but on my turkey tractor I build this spring, I'm using chicken wire all around. It comes down to the fact that NO tractor you build will be completely predator proof, but a tractor is absolutely the best way to raise meaties. So, you just have to figure out the way to build them to best suit your needs.

 

[VA from WV]

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I had a portable set of panels that I used to pasture my birds(20 meaties living with 2 Sebrights and a Russian Orloff) in several different places around the coop itself. We had a three spot rotation. They got 5 days, at most, in any one spot. When I moved the meaties to the finishing coop, we let the grass start growing back. 5 weeks later, the grass is mostly back, except in the are where the common run space for all the spots was.

In fact, we're going to mow it this weekend and feed it to the birds.