Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

[tony123]

Pitt md, glad you enjoyed the thread. Sounds like you're well beyond me with the Hobby Farm stuff, but I'm slowly getting there.

A few days ago, my battery fell out of the tractor....hahahaha There was a board going across the frame, and it finally rotted. It looked like it was put there by some Japanese rice farmer 20+ years ago. Anyway, I may be qualified to be called "farmswithjunk jr." I took one of our other baby cribs and stole some wooden slats to make a new battery platform. Hope to get another 20 out of it. Hahaha.



The chicken tractor is coming along, and will be ready for the chicks by end of the weekend I'm sure. I'll put up some photos then.

[scgargoyle]

Tony- Sounds like you need to write the book "Farming With Baby Furniture".

[hunterridgefarm]

Tony,

Been following your thread regularly just not had a lot of time to post. Hurry up with that "chicken tractor" because I see one in my near future.

I am getting going on our farm in between moving and cleaning the old house.

I was able to get my field plowed but due to rain have not been able to disc yet.I have about 100 flower transplants I need to get ready to move this fall that once divided should make close to 300-400 plants. Also have about 25 pear trees to move. Plus figs and blueberries that may have to wait till fall also.

Most of my seed has arrived and I need to get it in the ground in the next few weeks...2000 pumpkin seed (may only plant around 1200) 200 cantaloupe, 100 cucumber, 100 squash, 5 lb Indain corn, 100 lbs of sunflower seed. Plus tomato plants, peppers, field peas, sweet corn, field corn .

I'll try to take some pictures of the planting...if...I can get it all in the ground!! I may only plant half of everything if pressed for time.

David

[tony123]

David, you're doing the veggies in a much larger scale than I I'll be anxious to see photos! As for the Chicken Tractor, I didn't get as far over the weekend as I hoped....but I'm getting close. I was going to wait to post final photos, but thought you guys might learn from my mistakes if you get it in progress.

I ended up using an exterior paneling that looks a lot like barn planks too me. For the roof, it is a PVC material (lightweight and safer for the kids than metal). All wood in ground contact is PT and as small a dimension as I felt I could get away with.

Notice on all four lower corners I put eye bolts and attached a rope. This rope makes a nice handle for dragging. I hope it works well hooked to the tractor for dragging any distance. The weight is about the limit of what I can drag by hand, and my wife likely cannot. We may put wheels on the coop end at some point. But for the most part, I expect to shift it over 4' at a time....shouldn't be that bad.

Being that we are in a pretty warm climate, I designed the roof to allow for alot of ventilation. The floor of the coop and run are both left open for now. If we have predator issues, I'll have to fortify better for the next set of chicks.

One whole wall of the coop is on hinges to make access easy. The end wall of the run is also on hinges.

I plan to put a sliding door over the "chicken door" tied to a string so that I can open and close it from the outside for the chickens. At night, it will be closed.

The nesting box is not on yet, and I likely won't add it for a few months. The coop is framed to accept it on the back wall.







The boys helped out along the way



We had some good friends visiting over the weekend and their boy had a good time with the chickens. Here he is with one of the New Hampshire Reds. They're getting big aren't they!



So, finishing the roof adding final touches and a paint job are about all that's left. The chickens might move in before the paint job.

[tony123]

Originally Posted by scgargoyle

Tony- Sounds like you need to write the book "Farming With Baby Furniture".

A quick google search didn't turn up any such thing, so you may be on to something. That just might be my one big idea that I retire on!

[Tororider]

Tony, is that T1-11 that you used for your outside sheathing? If so, how much did it run you? It is looking good. If you paint after make sure the chickens have a good long time to free range while the paint dries/fumes dissapate(sp). As always, looks like the boys are having fun.

[tony123]

I don't know what T1-11 is This stuff looks like OSB with a stamped pattern on one side. It came pre-primed. It was $14 a sheet. One sheet had a ding in it so they gave me 50% off! I figure if it doesn't hold up it will be easy enough to replace in a year or two.

I estimate I've got about $120 in it right now.

Good point on the paint fumes. I'll make sure they have the whole day away from it.

[Tororider]

Where did you get it from?

[POC]

I can't remember the name of that stuff, but it is more like press-board than T-111 plywood. I paid $21+/sheet 10 years ago for it. Covered the house inside and out with it, then stained it. Looks pretty good.

[highplanesdrifter]

Tony123

I didn't read all 41 pages of this forum, but I read a few, and I saw your kids holding the chickens etc., and I thought of a book that you would love to read with your whole family (it includes just such chicken scenes). I've searched the entire Tractorbynet.com site, and it's never been mentioned ...

The book is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver ... it is funny, it's informative, your whole family would love it ... here's the Amazon ref:

Amazon.com: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.): Barbara Kingsolver,Camille Kingsolver,Steven L. Hopp: Books

Have a look at the Editorial Reviews on that page.

Because of this book, which supports small self-sufficient farming (like you're doing) over large industrial farms, she made it to #79 on the Bush administration list of the 100 Most Dangerous Americans to America (peanut farmer Jimmy Carter made #6!).

Happy Farming!

John

P.S. ... she told her kids not to name the chickens, for obvious reasons, but they did anyway. Fortunately, they named them with a dose of reality:
Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving were among the imaginative names!

P.P.S. ... and btw, Barbara Kingsolver also wrote The Poisonwood Bible, another fabulous book about living in an African village and raising her 4 daughters in the face of dreadful hardships and hostilities and a whacko witch doctor husband ...