Thanks Marjory! I had a lot of responses that thought it was
terrible, so it's good to hear some positive feedback!
Can you tell me a little about your chicken tractor experience?Our first two chicken tractors were built out of 2" pvc. We painted the pvc and did not have the collapsing problem you experienced. But the pvc is not rugged enough to handle the day to day movement a tractor system requires, and a corner here or there cracked. The tractors were also built 8'x8'x2.5' which is too big. I can move them around by myself, but it is not fun. We still use them, but they are in a semi-permanent location and we use them as holding pens when the odd need to segregate birds or animals comes up.
Have you decided on what to plant in your paddocks?Mulberrys of course. Lambsquarters - I belivee my young flock of brown leghorns survived the last harsh winter because of the lambquarters seeds - not much else available. Sugar hackberry trees. Millet. I am always on the lookout for more things to plant for them. I am growing honey locust trees for their long pods - mainly as a 'sweet feed' for the cows, but I am wondering if the chickens would enjoy it if it we ground up for them. I love perennials or re-seeding annuals. Even though we have a totally free range flock, I am still planting these trees in the areas they roost and consider 'home base'
I also use the ambitions of my young son and his BB gun to keep the
chickens away from the house.
Actually, a steel BB doesn't really hurt the chickens, well, maybe thier pride. It just bounces off thier feathers (he has never hit thier heads yet). It is a small Daisy gun - nothing serious. and it only took a few weeks of shooting and making a fuss for them to get the idea. We just didn't want the chickens shitting all over the sidewalk and porch, which as you know, a free range flock will do. To be totally honest, the BB gun shooting of the chickens got to be fun for the whole family. We never bothered them in any other places and they would come and eat feed out of our hands when they were where they were supposed to be. they learned, and since then they've taught the new birds that come into the flock. Chickens are smart.
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