Self Sufficiency - Small Steps

dsquire · Nov 18, 2012

Ed of all trades said:
We own 2.25 ac and take care of three more...
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.... Plan to start 2 chicken tractors this spring, one with 75 eating chickens and one with laying hens. We will see how and if that goes. Good to hear what everyone else is doing. helps me look to spring.

Hi Ed

Having lived on or around farms most of my life I have heard a lot of names for different things but I have never heard of a "Chicken tractor". Perhaps you could enlighten me. Thanks.

Cheers

Don

cmhyland · Nov 19, 2012

dsquire said:
Hi Ed

Having lived on or around farms most of my life I have heard a lot of names for different things but I have never heard of a "Chicken tractor". Perhaps you could enlighten me. Thanks.

Cheers

Don

My understanding is Chicken tractors are mobile coops that are pulled by a tractor from location to location so the manure drops through the screened floors....

tungularafishcamp · Nov 19, 2012

bp fick said:
I have been researching hoop houses for the last couple of years. My wife is getting weary of me occupying every south and west exposure window with trays and trays of plants. When you start 500-600 indoor plants, I guess she has point.

I do NOT want a hoop house if it means crawling around, etc. I want a full sized, walk through one. The problem is I cannot justify the expense UNLESS we greatly improve setting plant sales. I so want to improve this aspect. I could make money at growing setting plants, but the market up here is dismal. So few people even try gardening this far north, in this climate.

Still studying and hoping.

:laughing: I bumped my head on my homemade hoop house(made from driftwood n pvc pipes) for a long time before I bought a couple Oregon Valley Greenhouse hoop houses. I can even bring stuff in/out with the tractor, what a difference! I figure I get at least a month at both ends of the season with them. We have had killing frosts since mid sept and I just pulled the last few greens this week(except for what I am attempting to overwinter).

cdaigle430 · Nov 19, 2012

cmhyland said:
My understanding is Chicken tractors are mobile coops that are pulled by a tractor from location to location so the manure drops through the screened floors....

I love this idea-keeps the chickens safe from predators and you can move them around-I might just build one next year. The things I learn from this forum

Any cons to having somthing like this? Maybe should start a new thread on this subject.

OldMcDonald · Nov 19, 2012

Redneck in training said:
Eat them. Poisonous or not they all taste good. I think. At least rattlesnakes do.

I think you might find Queensland snakes a bit more tetchy than your average rattler. I had a sheep/cattle station in NSW and the snakes there were bad enough. Australia has 7 of the world's 10 most deadly snakes, and I think Qld has all 7. Some species do not move away from you but stand their ground or even attack. Definitely not something to meddle with.

gwiley · Nov 19, 2012

dsquire said:
Hi Ed

Having lived on or around farms most of my life I have heard a lot of names for different things but I have never heard of a "Chicken tractor". Perhaps you could enlighten me. Thanks.

Cheers

Don

Chicken tractors are often small enough to be pulled by hand. The idea is that you can move a small group of hens around your garden or yard to have them clean up areas from bugs or weeds.

Ed of all trades · Nov 19, 2012

Check out Joel Saliton's chicken tractors. He runs a farm and grows beef and chickens, sells thousands of birds a year. If you want 3 or four hens look at chicken tractors on line, if you want to grow a bunch to eat or have a dozen or so layers check out Joel, and his book Pastured Poultry Profits.

dsquire · Nov 19, 2012

cmhyland said:
My understanding is Chicken tractors are mobile coops that are pulled by a tractor from location to location so the manure drops through the screened floors....

cmhyland

Thanks for the quick answer, now I know what you mean. We used to call them "chicken coops".

After the young chicks reached a certain age and the weather had warmed up they were put out into the chicken coops. They spent the summer and early fall there growing until they were ready to start laying eggs. At that time the old laying hens in the barn were butchered or sent to market and the new crop of poulets (sp) were brought into the hen house in the barn to begin their career as a laying hen.

Every night someone had to go and close up the chicken coop at dark to keep the chickens in and mostly to keep the foxes out. It seemed they liked chicken dinner any time they could get it.

Cheers

Don

Redneck in training · Nov 19, 2012

OldMcDonald said:
I think you might find Queensland snakes a bit more tetchy than your average rattler. I had a sheep/cattle station in NSW and the snakes there were bad enough. Australia has 7 of the world's 10 most deadly snakes, and I think Qld has all 7. Some species do not move away from you but stand their ground or even attack. Definitely not something to meddle with.

I am quite familiar with Australian snakes. I worked on several projects in Pilbara over past several years. Had to sit through snake training several times. Truth is that, despite spending a lot of time in the bush, I have seen only few snakes and that was in the city or at night on the road. Apparently Pilbara is much less hospitable to animals than Queensland. I don't kill snakes on our land because they eat mice that I dislike much more than snakes. If you leave snakes alone they will not bother you. I fact there was a story on radio about snake bites in Australia. Some snakes are not protected so they can be killed anytime and without a reason. Acording to the research mentioned in the show 9 out of 10 people were bitten when they tried to kill a snake.

I saw a snake patrol in Karratha. Snakes like warm roads at night and get run over. Snake patrol tries to prevent that by driving slowly on the roads after sun set, picking up snakes and releasing them away from the road.
There is story about Jamaica. When Europeans colonized Jamaica there were many snakes. So they imported ferrets. Now the island is free of snakes but overrun by rats. And the ferrets kill chickens, birds and other desirable animals.