I have caught the urban chicken bug! I am still in the planning stages for life with chickens and am in Phase coop design. I am stuck on whether or not to build a chicken tractor or
chicken coop. Personally, I think I would prefer a coop but I've read some conflicting information about what chickens can do to your soil, also the combination of chicken poop, heat and moisture (the coop would be in the line of sprinkler fire) equals a bacterial nightmare. If someone could give me some words of wisdom, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Replies
I prefer the coop myself. I have eleven hens. We converted a horse pen into their area where they lay their eggs and roost at night. It was all open on the sides, so we enclosed it with wire and the bottom half, we put up red wood panels. I have a sun shade on the side where the sun comes in. And we then added a 22' enclosed run to it. They love it. The horse pen and part of the run has a roof, and the rest of the top is wire so the girls can get some sun. On the ground, I give them organic dirt, since I had plenty left over when I "tried" to make a garden :-( I had a raised garden put in right outside of the chicken run, and knew I'd have to keep it covered with a sun shade when the girls were out. Well, keeping it all covered just didn't help the vegetables grow very well, and trying to cover it every time they came out was a pain, so I kept it on. Now that the plants died, I just incorporated that whole area with the coop and run! Now they have about 20 more feet of fun.....making divets in organic dirt!! I think I'm having as much fun watching them as they are!
Just my thoughts.
Linda
www.bitoheavenfarm.com
along with leaves, grass clippings, and I even used some rice hulls which is bedding for horses, as I've read that people are using it in chicken coops too. It's very nice and absorbs water well. So keeping it all clean is easy. I have a manure fork that picks up their droppings daily. I throw everything right outside their area, in a compost pile, which the hens just love to dig through when I let them out. I have a gate on each side of their run. One gate takes them in the back of my property where the other horses are. The other takes them to a grass area. Depending on where I'm working depends on where I let them out.
With a coop, you can keep it cooler with misters and fans, walk in it (if you make it tall enough.....which I would suggest so you can clean better) and the chickens can roost as high as you make it since that's where they feel safe. As I have found out, chickens can't handle heat well. They do better in the cold. I also have two automatic wateres which are on separate lines in case one gets shut off by accident, along with one I fill. I heard someone say that their auto waterers got shut off and all the chickens died in one day! Especially in this heat. So keeping it open and cool, with plenty of places to roam (since there is a pecking order, you know!) keeps the girls giving me those tasty eggs that everyone wants! You will enjoy having chickens. I didn't think
Great news Joanna! Personally, I prefer a coop with a run to a tractor. I think the coop gives the birds more space. Tractors can get cramped. However, it depends on how you plan to use it. If you really don't want your girls free ranging the yard, supplementing your coop with a small tractor is a great way to get them out into the yard without having to worry about the mess that free ranging birds can create.
Keep us posted and good luck.
Hi Joanna,
The beauty of a chicken tractor is its mobility for things like sprinkler issues. There are so many designs out there - we built one for my girls when I had them and the mobility was a big consideration.
I would suggest you consider where you would be moving the tractor if you go with that design. Would you move it daily or weekly? Would you be needing to move it only a couple of feet or yards? Would you want the girls on the lawn for access to grass and bug patrol? Do you want to move it around to do rotational veggie gardening?
If you go with a permanent coop being able to regularly clean out the pen is a big consideration to the concerns you have. The girls are messy, but they do best when they have a clean environment - that you can keep clean.
Just some things that may help you decide.
Hi Joanna:
Liz has a great small 'chicken tractor' ... Liz please share?
Bryan
www.thegreenhoousefarm.com
Hi Bryan,
The link did not work properly. Here is the one I found worked better:
http://thegreenhousefarm.com/
:-)