One of these chicks...
...is not like the others. He runs around, scratches, flies about two feet in the air, is fully feathered and generally seems like a normal, healthy chicken. The rest are quite different. They have been called "FrankenChickens" and that seems rather appropriate to me. They eat voraciously and lay around and grow, which I guess is why so many folks raise them - excellent feed conversion ratio, large breast, and short-time-to-market. I'll reserve final judgment until after processing day. In the mean time, does anyone have an enthusiastic recommendation for a more traditional and less freaky meat bird? I'd love to hear your suggestions.
I don't guess I can post that lovely shot of the chicks in the chicken tractor with out a full shot of the behemoth. In case anyone is curious, yes that is John Deere green paint you see. Below you can see me topping the sixteen foot monstrosity off with a little coordinating John Deere yellow. What can I say, I like the colors and it is as close to the real thing I will likely get anytime soon. There are two large lift-up doors, one on each end and I think it is going to work out all right. We didn't follow any plans; we just got out the 2x4's and started slapping it together. The 16' 2x4's were leftover bracing from the barn raising. I had planned to do something a little different. A buddy had suggested converting a hay ring to a tractor and I thought that was a pretty nifty idea. However, Kyle came down with a real hankerin' to build something with wood. So we built this and it gave me a chance to teach him about half-lap joints.Next, I hope we'll be wrapping up the Whizbang Chicken Plucker before the end of next weekend.
posted by The Bradshaws at 7:31 PM
10 Comments:
We're definitely looking to build something more low-profile for the next batch; our Andy Lee tractor is three feet high, for no good reason that I can see, and it makes it difficult to reach inside and move things around.
Any idea what your tractor weighs?
Our chicken tractors are evolving into quite the user friendly contraptions. The first model was 12 by 10 ft, using Polyface dimensions. It's a little to heavy and clumsy for younger folks, (my girls). We've developed a wheel system that's a masterpiece. They can be raised up and down easily with one hand and the person barely has to bend over. I'll take some pictures soon of this labor saving device we came up with. Trouble is I still am having some problems putting photo's on the new blog. Maybe I could e-mail them to someone and they could publish them ? The newer model chicken tractors are 8 by 8 foot. Scaled down to be user friendly, plus 8 ft lumber is easier to find here and there. With the wheel lift invention that self locks into place and has an incredibly easy release these babies are a joy to use.
Tom
I'd guess it weighs between 120 and 150 lbs. Not much worry about it blowing away, but it's about all Kyle can do to pull it to the next position.
Keith
Tom,
I'd love to see photos, especially the wheel lift. I toyed with the idea of a wheel lift and may consider a retrofit if appropriate. BTW, I'd be happy to walk you through the photo posting process. Shoot me an email if you're interested.
Keith
Hey, Keith! Your chicks look just a bit older than mine. At what age did you put them out in the tractor? Our coop isn't quite finished yet and they're growing out of their current structure, so we may have to "slap" something together for the interrim. Also, what measures have to taken to make them predator-proof?
Emily,
The chicks were two weeks old this weekend. We started moving them out during the day at 2 weeks, but it's been real warm here lately - around 90 deg F. We moved them out during the day and back in for a couple of days and the last couple of nights we left them outside, but with a heat lamp since the temps were down in the 60s. This is our first go 'round with this type of operation, so I'll try to keep everyone up to date as we learn. Other than a heavy structure enclosed in 1" chicken wire, there is no extra predator protection. I look forward to learning from Tom's experiences in the coming weeks.
Keith
Thanks, Keith. We brought ours outdoors in the bin the other day when it was around that temperature and they just freaked out and acted terrified, clustered in a corner and cheeped frantically. Maybe it was too hot inside the bin, I don't know. Won't try that again too soon, though! I'm going to watching your updates closely! :)
Keith,
I'd say yours are as predator proof as mine which means there could be trouble. Now that I've got a few week delay they will be modified. I'm working on a wire mesh border to surround the bottom. It would be easy foldup for moving. This would prevent digging under or sqweezing under a crack on the bottom. It would also be inexpensive and well worth it. Last night I sent Rick two photos of the big tractor, dubbed the Titanic :) I'll try to send more as time permits, it took twenty minutes to zap just that one e-mail, slow speed you know.
We started out with the Joel Salatin type chicken tractor. It was made from wood and lasted until 2 years ago, when we gave it to someone else who uses it. I am not sure if they still do or not. Then we did the same type of pen out of PVC. It hardly lasted the year out. So, since then we have gone to a totally different style. I believe there is a picture of our pen on our webpage... www.amazinggrazefarm.com . We can now walk into ours. The ridge pole will support the weight of hanging the waterer and the feeder. So, in reality, you do not have to take them in and out. Michael does choose to take the feeder out though, so it does not hang. We will be using these for our 5th season this year. We have had to make minor repairs and replace tarps.
I like the "Green", wish I had room for the tractor but our 'land' space is limited. We will be posting the 'simple' design and build out of our coop & pen. I am happy to say that after many days turned in to months that our chickens have seen the light of day and are outside. We chose RI Reds as our meat & eggers. Will see how they turn out, as a touted multi-purpose bird.
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