Moving to the Farm

[Tororider]

Too Long and So Busy | homesteaddad

 

[Larro Darro]

I can relate to think before you lift. I am having a little back pain myself. A customer left an 8 gallon pot of green beans in the kitchen. I didn't think to drain the liquid off before I carried it to the woods to dump. That was Monday night, and I have been having mild back spasms all week.

Your garden looks good.

Larro

 

[Tororider]

Thanks Larro, but I had hoped to have a big garden this year. I am still hoping to get a fall garden in and extend the season with a hoop house, but we will see if I get to it.

 

[Tororider]

I bought a chicken coup yesterday. Today I got the first coat of paint on it. The trim will be white.

The last pic is of tonight's sunset after a nasty storm.

 

[Larro Darro]

Nice looking coop. Are you going to be moving it so they have fresh grass? My BIL has one made out of PVC pipe so it's easier to move. But then his is pretty big. I'll look back and see if I can find a picture of it to post.

Larro

 

[Larro Darro]

I found an old picture. He has made a new coop to go with the tractor {PVC and wire part} since then. The coop comes loose from the tractor, and can be moved pretty easy with two people. It is amazing how fast they will strip all the grass from a spot.

Larro

 

[Tororider]

Larro,
I like that. I had made some tractors like that but on a far smaller scale when we lived in the suburbs several years ago. I plan to let them free range for the most part, but I could see how having a large pen if I needed them enclosed for several days would be very beneficial. Thanks for posting that.

 

[Tororider]

I am trying to figure out where to put the coop. My initial thought was to put it in the middle of the sheep pasture hoping that the presence of the sheep would discourage any would be chicken killers. But I want the kids to be able to collect eggs and be around the chickens and they aren't allowed in the pen unless I am there to hold George, our ram. So here are the next two thoughts that I have. I could put the coop near the fence close to one of the gates possibly even allowing access to the nest boxes from outside the pen. This would make it possible to sneak in with the chickens before George noticed them. Or I could leave the coop outside the pen altogether. Am I missing another option? Open to all suggestions.

 

[TomSeller]

If you have problems with predators digging under the side wall, you can run a low (3 or 4 inches off the ground) electric fence wire around the OUTSIDE of the coop. Then locate the coop near a HOT electric cattle fence and run a wire with handle to the fence. Then move the coop up and down along the fence, each time re-attaching to the electric fence. Once the predators get zapped a few times they will learn to stay away. If you worry about climbing predators, alternate ground (if the cage does not ground) and hot every few inches up the side and over the top. Zap them f'ers.

I don't want to kill the weasels as they are my best barn mousers. So far so good.

 

[Tororider]

Minus feeder and waterer the coop is ready for chickens. I am going to make a bucket waterer with nipples and a feeder out of PVC pipe, at least that is the plan.