The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

I have three chicken tractors out on the pasture and as the name suggests, they have different characteristics.  The one in the distance is...

The Good:
That chicken tractor is where most of our egg layers roost for the night.  I usually wait until after dark and then I make a quick trip out to the pasture and close the door to the tractor to keep predators out and our egg layers in.  First thing in the morning we open it so that they can go eat goodies in the pasture.  I then push the tractor one length to distribute their poop across the pasture.  At the same time I make a pass by the barn and collect the 8 - 10 hens who habitually roost in the barn and deposit them in the Hen House and lock that door. 

When I moved the meat birds to the pasture, the displaced layers moved into this tractor so I had to make additional roosting bars to accommodate more hens.  This tractor, called the Ford Eggsplorer, is fitted out with 6 nesting boxes and the hens will lay eggs in it when they are out foraging instead of traveling all the way to the barn or hen house where the other laying boxes are.  Half of it is covered by tin to keep the birds dry and the other half is caged with chicken wire and allows the sun and fresh air in.

3 Chicken Tractors on the pasture

Then there is...

The Bad:
The tractor on the right in the photo above is the bad simply because of an engineering design issue when I built it.  The other tractors have air filled wheels, but they are hard to turn.  I figured putting double-wheeled rubber casters on the front of this one would enable me to easily turn it.  Well, it works great except when it rains - which is a lot in South Louisiana.  When it rains the casters dig down into the ground, making the tractor next to impossible to move until it dries up.  Not good.  I'm going to add the other wheels on it instead.

This tractor is where I moved the Barred Rock pullets - 23 replacement hens that we'll use to 'freshen' our existing flock.  Some of the existing old gals have probably stopped laying.  An interesting side note:  I heard the way to determine if your hens aren't laying is to put carpenter's chalk in the laying boxes and those hens with no chalk on their bottoms after a few days are not laying anymore and are prime candidates for the stock pot.

Here you can see the pullets on the grass, enjoying themselves.  We push this tractor forward one length every day as well.


Pullets on fresh green grass

These birds are smart and energetic.  They are only a few weeks old and they are feathered and already roosting up on the roosting bars.

Up on the roost

By contrast the Cornish Cross Meat birds are too fat and lazy to roost and are susceptible to drowning in a heavy downpour.  These Barred Rocks - they are high and dry, literally.


On the lower roost

Here is another picture showing the last chicken tractor,

The Ugly:

It is ugly because of the way I temporarily protected them during the cold front we just had.  It is May and for the past four nights we've had strong north winds and temperatures in the low 40's.  These birds will pile up on each other and suffocate one another.  To avoid that situation, I stapled blue tarps and feed sacks to the sides of the tractors.  Not very pretty - in fact, it is downright ugly, but it is effective in saving the birds.

An ugly chicken tractor with live birds > A pretty chicken tractor with dead birds.


The Ugly

As we look inside the tractor, you can see how the tarps and feed sacks protect them from the wind.  At the same time I have an extension cord running out to the tractor that powers two heat lamps, providing heat for the birds.  The picture below attests to the fact that they are comfortable and eating.


Happy birds

The goal is to keep them comfortable.  You don't want them using calories trying to stay warm.  You want them growing muscle.  As I type this I look at the calendar and note that it is May 6th.  I can't recall ever being concerned about keeping birds warm in May.  I guess I should relish this since we'll be griping about the oppressive heat soon enough!