Chicks First Day On Pasture
I Our 17 chicks are currently to young to be out of the brooder over night but we have great warm temps so we are now putting them in a tractor during the day and returning them to the brooder at night.
The tractor is framed form 7.5 foot stud lumber and covered with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. The birds are two different types of red sex link hens, a male sex link (we think but it was labled a pullet by Tractor Supply but was in with all clearly sex linked pullets) and 8 Egyptian Fayoumi. There are 4 standard Fayoumis and 4 that were marked as “cinnamon silver”.
We really don’t have a clue what a “cinnamon silver” is, we are not even 100% sure it is a Fayoumi cross or color phase as I can’t find any info on them. The do appear a lot like the other Fayoumis in growth rate, size and other characteristics, so we shall see in time.
The dimensions of the tractor are 7.5 feet long, 24 inches high and 44 inches wide which leaves 2 inches of over hang on both sides for the oak pallets. This works great for day time use by small chickens that can easily get though 2 inch chicken wire and might strangle themselves with one inch wire. Later it will be converted to my “Quail Mansion” tractors which I have long term plans for.
Note – I stated a 50 foot roll of hardware cloth in the video, what I meant to say was a 25 foot roll.
Love your chicken tractor, have one like it. Works well. I wanted something more substancial but moveable. I bought a very used 16 foot RV, stripped it, put in perches and nesting boxed, used the bathroom closure to hold grain and things I did not want the birds to poop on or eat. I moved it around my 2 acre field, putting electric fencing around the coop, run on a car battery I recharged each Sunday to run the fence. I works wonderfully. Moving the rv with my suv is easy and moving the fencing is about an hours job, including everything. I recomend this chicken coop method highly. Love your podcast. Kay Tohline
Like the chicken tractor I wish I could raise chickens, but where I live you need 3 acres of land. Qual might be doable though since I could put them in my garage and the fact they are quieter. I am leaning toward rabbits though. Love your Pod Cast keep it going. Your an inspiration to us all.
Jack, I’m so excited about the possibilities with your new place. Good to see y’all already have livestock!
After having my girls for three years now it seems amazing how little they start out. Kinda like having the kids grow up.
By you personally having to move them to the run daily gets them trained to look for you for goodies and fun. Give them a chick, chick, chick call every time you move them, or give them scratch when older and they will always come running.
You know that is what I figure. We had free range birds growing up, all I ever did was call them and toss some goodies every night to get them back to the coop area. I started thinking why the hell move a heavy ass coop when chickens have legs and are happy to use them. Now for people raising 200 birds on 20 acres I get it but 20 birds on 3 it is easier to just move the birds.
Is there hog panel or anything on the bottom? Would you have any issue with keeping them in the tractor overnight if you had hog panel on the bottom and a more secure top?
A coon can slip though the 4 inch square of a hog panel. It is just easier to move the birds then to loose them. Right now while little the biggest danger is honestly Ralph the cat. I figure when they are about half grown I will let him get his ears knocked back and he will leave them be after that.
Awesome! Here’s a caption looking for a photo… “Chicks dig chicken tractors!”
What is your Temp there during the day? I have 10 Cornish hens and I can’t wait till I can put them out side. They are feathering out very quick. I think in another few weeks they can go out here in the Midwest.
I live in a smallish town. No chickens allowed. I have had 4 mixed cute eggers, all with even cuter names, for a year. Everyone should get a few, law or no law. They are such great “Pets with benefits”. Eggs are good and they are great tillers.
Shari
It was in the 70s today, we have a cold front coming Friday and storms Saturday. Should go down to 35 I hope it doesn’t go lower, I took a risk and have 2 dozen tomatoes and 2 dozen jalapenos in the ground already.
I like the tractor! A good simple, economical design. I just moved bunch of Black Australorp chicks into a coop with heat lamp and they are just having a ball. I’ll be building a tractor sometime soon and I might do it like yours since I have a bunch of pallets laying around. You know, as I watched this, I was thinking maybe you could pull the boards off one side of the pallet, flip it over and have the bottom slats for a rabbit tractor. I don’t know, because sometimes working from a pallet turns into more work than just building from scratch, but just a thought.
Do you reckon you could add an “axle” and put a couple of plastic wheels on one end and attach some 2x2s on the other end and move it like a wheelbarrow?
Tip sent to me by a listener. Take two sticks of PVC pipe longer then the width of the tractor and keep them with it. When it is time to move lift each end, slide them under then push, like the Egyptians moved giant stones.
Another important thing to note is how much of the seed you are giving is actually just filler. Many less expensive feeds use a lot of filler, which the birds don’t generally eat and are basically a waste of money and can make a mess in your yard. Filler seeds include milo, sorghum, red millet and golden millet. Birds will push through these fillers to get the food they want, so it is more financially sound to choose one that is higher quality.’
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