Enhancing the Chicken Tractor

Sometimes I just don't think things all the way through.  I'm not a carpenter and the plans I go by only exist in my head.  I like to research on the Internet and pull together the best designs of a lot of people so as not to reinvent the wheel and then I try to build what would work best with our needs and then merge the best ideas all together into one plan.  Designs I use are seldom replicated.  I have 3 chicken tractors and none of them are alike.  I try to improve the design and I'm not afraid of trying something and admitting that it doesn't work and then trying something new.  Things I build for use on our farm are all homemade, usually out of recycled or scrap materials.  Animals don't care if your cuts are square or if the building materials are new! 

So this weekend I had a simple discovery and design alteration that I should have thought of years ago.  Sometimes I just don't use my noggin.  When I moved the pullets the other day, I moved the bell waterer from one tractor to the other.  This bell waterer has been a lifesaver for me.  It hangs suspended from the roof of the chicken tractor instead of sitting on the ground.  In the past, I always had a regular 1 gallon water container just like the one shown below.  I had to pick it up each day before I pushed the chicken tractor to a new location, turn it over, unscrew the lid, fill it with water (one gallon at a time) and then lean over and place it back on the ground in the tractor.

The bell waterer is suspended so I never have to move it.  It moves with the tractor.  It is connected by hose to a 5 gallon bucket that sits on top of the roof of the tractor and gravity feeds the water to the bell waterer.  I fill the 5 gallon bucket with water maybe twice a week.  This saves work and time -  you can imagine the benefits.  So while moving the bell waterer, I suddenly became aware that I should do the same thing with the feed troughs! 

I currently have to lean over in the tractor, pick up the feed trough, push the chicken tractor to fresh grass, refill the trough with feed, and then set the trough back down in the tractor.  The gluttonous cows have learned that they can walk up to the tractor and get their heads in the chicken feed bucket while I'm leaning over in the tractor to pick up the feed trough.  So why not make it easier on myself and suspend the feed trough as well?  All I did was drill four holes on all four sides of the existing feed trough, cut four pieces of baling twine, and then hang the feed from the roof of the tractor by the twine.  You can see the suspended bell waterer in the picture as well.  Now I don't need to move anything.  All I do is get behind the tractor, push it forward one length until the pullets are in fresh grass, open the trap door on top and pour a scoop or two of chick grower/rice/oyster shell mix in the trough.  Much easier - much faster - much better!  (Why didn't I think of this sooner?  What else am I missing?)



Hanging the feed trough

One thing about chickens, as the photo above illustrates, is that they don't have good table manners.  As a kid you probably had your momma tell you not to play with your food.  I bet you never had her tell you to stop standing in your plate, right?  Chickens just don't know any better.  A quick search on the Internet confirmed my suspicions - a chicken's brain is the size of a pea (those pea brains!).  While not very smart critters, they sure are fun to watch and we enjoy keeping them.  Here is another shot looking down from the trap door from where I pour the feed.


Hungry birds

She doesn't seem the least bit ashamed by her atrocious table manners. 


All 31 of these pullets should begin laying eggs within the next few weeks.  It is really bizarre how it happens.  One chicken will lay an egg one day and it's like they all start laying at once over the next few days.  We're waiting for that to happen.  Our egg production which was averaging around 36 eggs per day, is down to about 6 eggs a day.  In fact, we've stopped selling them so we have enough to eat ourselves.  I wanted to show you a picture of what their first eggs look like.  From our experience, the first eggs from our pullets are very small.  I put a medium egg beside it for perspective.  It is only about an inch and a quarter long, but other than that, a perfect little egg.  I hope we'll start seeing some of these soon.

Eggcited for the pullets to start laying