In this video, I am working on the conversion of the chicken run into a chicken tractor. There are several reasons why I would like to do this. The chickens enjoy eating grass, bugs, and scratching through a fresh piece of yard now and then. Also, it will allow me to move the run to easily clean the area where they spend most of their time. I have been wanting to get this done for quite some time but have been busy with other things this summer.
I have been looking for some old piece of junk on the side of the road somewhere that had wheels on it I could scavenge but have thus far been unsuccessful. I was able to pick up a small set of wheels at Home Depot that will fit the burden but not really the bill. I paid much more than I wanted to but they are some pretty sturdy looking wheels that should last a long time.
The main thing that I needed to tackle with this project was to build a hitch for my garden tractor and to build a system for the wheels so I could move them into position when I am ready to move the run around the yard. I still have more work to do here (build a nesting box, food scraps trough, roosts, and portable watering system. These will be done as soon as time permits and I will get another video that should cap this project off.
This post was shared at: Homestead Barn Hop, HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop
In this video, I discuss some of the benefits of having backyard chickens. About six months ago, we decided that we were ready to buy some chickens and dive into animal husbandry in our backyard. While my wife and I had discussed this idea in the past, we had always dismissed it since we live in a small suburban community.
Although we are not in a big city, we do have enough room, but it just didnt seem like something that would fit with our lifestyle or living environment. After all, what would the neighbors say? Dont chickens smell? How much time would be invested in cleaning and feeding the chickens? How much does it cost to feed them, heat the coop, and provide overall care? These were many of the questions that my wife and I had that made us reluctant to get into owning chickens.
After having these chickens for about six months now my views and opinions have changed quite a bit, and we feel many of our questions have been answered. In this video, I share some of my opinions about how the chickens have become a perfect fit into our family. If you have been thinking about owning chickens, I hope you find this encouraging!
Check out this video to learn more about raising chickens in the winter. Will they lay eggs when it is cold? Do they need a certain amount of light? How warm should it be? How will they get water in the winter? These are many of the questions that I had going into this first winter with the chickens and I couldnt be happier with our coop, watering system, feeder, and heat lamp. The chickens have been providing us with plenty of eggs for a family of five throughout this very very cold winter.
We have six ISA Brown breed chickens and every day we go out to the coop (well maybe not every day) and there are six eggs waiting for us. This year we have had a very cold winter, I mean, really cold! For the last couple of weeks it has not been above 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12c) and the chickens have kept on laying! The only issue we have had is if we dont get the eggs in 24 hours they will freeze in the nesting boxes. This could be solved with some extra pine shavings or paper shredding I just havent gotten around to it yet.
The other issue that I was curious about was lighting. I had installed some solar lights in the coop but since the little solar panels are covered in snow and the batteries dont seem to charge very well in the cold; the light s have not really been working much. The only extra light they get is from the heat lamp when it is on. It is hooked up to a thermostatically controlled outlet that turns it on when it gets to 32 degrees (0c) and then turns off once it warms up to 45 degrees (7c). During the coldest days they pretty much dont come out of the coop except to eat then quickly get back into the warmth. I feel that the addition of the heat lamp in this case is helping them to lay more by creating a nice warm nesting area for them (no science here just opinion).
The only other issue that we have had was with the watering system during the coldest periods. When it was down well below 0 degrees (-17c) with wind chills close to -25 (-31c) the heat tape and insulation could not keep up. The water pipe froze almost solid but not enough to break the pvc at least as far as I can tell so far. The inside part of the pipe also froze and no water was coming out for the chickens at all. I may do some redesigning on this heat system for next year but as long as it is not insanely cold for the rest of the winter it should work ok.
We have been so happy with the decision to get these chickens. They require minimal upkeep and provide us with so much. It is so nice to always know there is a free breakfast, lunch or dinner waiting in the fridge in the form of recycled cartons full of fresh eggs from our girls.
Products mentioned in this video:
Temperature controlled outlet - http://amzn.to/1A9sJRT Similar heat tape - http://amzn.to/1wRPQzl Heat Lamp - http://amzn.to/14SnEoH Heat Bulb - http://amzn.to/1y5HMB4
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The chickens are almost four months old now. They have been healthy, and seem to be very happy. The automatic waterer and feeder in the coop have been working out great, so great in fact, we took a four-day vacation last week and didnt have to ask a neighbor to feed them.
ISA Brown chickens are known for their high egg production, approximately 300 eggs per year per chicken. Because we were told they wouldnt start laying until they are around six months old, we never check their nest boxes. Last night, Todd and I walked out to the coop to close them in for the night. Todd opened the nest box lid for the first time in awhile and discovered 14 eggs! We were shocked! The girls came screaming out of the house they were so excited.
They do seem to have faces only a mother could love. And this one appears to have cataracts already or something. But we do love them and are very grateful for the eggs they are now providing.
We hope this encourages anyone out there contemplating raising chickens in a subdivision, or small backyard. If we can do it, anyone can.
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Still sleepy but couldnt wait to check for eggs this morning.
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This post has been shared at: The HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Front Porch Friday
We added chickens to our little homestead this year and couldnt be happier with our decision! In this video, I share with you tips and best practices for raising chickens in a small backyard. We are so excited about the things we did to make the coop as maintenance-free as possible.
We have setup and designed our chicken coop in ways that make it possible for us to go away for a long weekend without asking someone to feed the chickens. We know you will want to implement these same ideas in your chicken coop as well.
To learn more about how we built the automatic feeder for under $20, click HERE.
To learn more about how the watering system was constructed, click HERE.
Dont hesitate to let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used:
This post was shared at: Homestead Barn Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday
