TanksHill...Roll on!!

[FarmerChick]

Gina I got nailed with that book fair thing at school also.

Nicole said she needed $10 for the fair--I thought WHAT the?
but I thought, well, ok she should come home with a FEW nice books, heck at least 2 ya know lol

well she comes home with this pink princess journal, small of course with like 6 pages of paper in it---all for $9.55

I almost died on the spot....that is just irresponsible for teachers/school to allow that type of overpriced item to be sold to a kindergarten kid lol---but I am sure the proceeds helps other kids with books or something but geesh, it ticked me off lol

 

[TanksHill]

Yeah, it was not quite that bad. She actually got 3 chapter books for herself and another for a friend. High School Musical, Hanna Montana and one other. Shes in second grade. I told her that they would be her reading material for the next month.

 

[TanksHill]

Sunday,

Ok so yesterday was designated chicken tractor building day. As usual what I have on paper does not always happen. When my dh "the builder" gets involved things have a tendency to change.

Here's he facts....I had 3 rolls of 4 ft high hardware cloth, I got for free.
....I had these cool brackets I bought years ago for something. Corners, T' and roof.
......... I had a drawing that I did, so I could measure out how much lumber to buy. I used 2 x 4's and dh ripped them to 2 x 2's or whatever.

So I only spent 20 bucks on materials. Well if you don't include the original cost of the brackets and all my dh screws.

I did not want to cut the hardware cloth. So the tractor walls were going to be 4 ft high. Yes I know this is tall but I though I could use it for turkeys as well.

I made it a rectangular shape. and stuck the roof on top. Wrapped the wire all the way around. Built a cute little door and slapped on some hinges. All with zero waste. I used 9 sticks of lumber and the only waste was the 45 degree corners we trimmed. I was pretty excited about this.

But with the roof rafters it's really tall. What the heck do I need all that space for?

Then I woke up this morning with visions of little houses. There is no house!!!! I was going to add a couple pieces of plywood on the back side to wrap around. But got carried way and forgot. So now I am thinking how do I fix this?

Do meat birds/ turkeys need to be up off the ground? Do need a house to stay warm right? So really my tractor that is currently all wire needs some kind of sleeping box added?

My dh is gonna kill me. I guess the roof line will help because I can add sleeping quarters on that end. How can I do this without adding to much weight?

Sorry I am thinking aloud. Well either way it will have to wait. Today we do dh projects. The trailer, wash, clean, load and get ready for the desert.

I will get a picture of the tractor/ house thing so you know what I'm talking about.

g

 

[Farmfresh]

Deep breath. Most meat birds won't even perch! If you want them off the ground at night I would build a raised floor at one end. Then I would just cover that end top and sides with a tarp or lightweight panel of some kind. Protection from the rain, wet ground at night and you should be good in my opinion.

Turkeys will prefer to roost. Just figure out a coupe of high bars for them or make a ladder arrangement that can be leaned against the back bracing.

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks FF. I made a comment to dh this morning that I needed to make a few changes. He told me he didn't want to hear about it. Nice!!!

So I think I am going to remove the roof rafters. Use them to build some kind of box on the other end. Then cover the open end(where rafters came from) with corrugated plastic. That way the door is on the covered end. Easy food and water access etc..

I'm just going to get it enclosed and go from there. I need to look at my calendar and see when I can get some birds. I need to coordinate McMurray hatchery with desert season and weekends away. Not the best time to start birds I guess. I just really want to give it a go.

g

Ok please don't laugh!!!

 

[justusnak]

Oh my GOSH! I LOVE your tractor! Why would anyone laugh at that!? As for adding turkeys...they just need a place to roost...depending on the size of the poults...you wont need a super thick roost. One of those 2x2's would work for young poults. Just attach one from side to side, about half way up. Great job!!!!

 

[freemotion]

You can remove the rafters...a roof would make it heavy to move but too light not to get tipped by a wind. I'd make the top flat and then just cover it with a tarp for shade and for protection from hawks and ravens. The tarp will still make it vulnerable to winds, so you might want to anchor it a bit, maybe with a couple of those screw-in dog tie-out thingies that can be moved when you move the tractor. Wind is why the profile of a tractor is so low, so you will have to adjust for your higher light version.'

It'll work, don't worry! Most stuff needs adjusting when you are building on the cheap and when you have animals. The animals never get to read the plans or these threads, so they don't know that they are supposed to stay INSIDE of these structures. Ask me about my current batch of chicks.....

 

[Blackbird]

Wow!!

Why are you worried??

I made a chicken tractor out of a bed frame once.. LOL
Yours is a palace!

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa194/esquirrelepic/Animals/004-1.jpg



How old are your turkeys and/or meaties you are planning to put in there?


Heres an idea, depending on how strong you are in order to move it and the wind conditions (I assume you would use tin for the roof?), BUT if your turkeys aren't the broad breasted kind, you could KEEP the roof, and put the roosts up that that high at the rafters, believe me, they will roost up there. When your turkeys reach adulthood the toms won't be able to get up that high, but the hens still will.

If you still have the sheets of plywood, you could tack them on the sides over the wire, around half of it for protection from winds and rain going through the side etc. Heck, you could even rig them up so they can easily come off on really nice days. Then you wouldn't need a little house for them at all.

All of our portable pens just have tarps for protection, the animals are fine.

Then again you are in a hill. So if the wind IS an issue, it might be a good idea to take the roof off and make it flat like Free said.

I swear, you should see some of the stuff we've come up with for fencing, etc. Your tractor looks fine!

What is this about then needing a raised floor though?

 

[i_am2bz]

Dang, that tractor is a palace, it's nicer than the pen we have attached to our coop...you should see the raggedy ol' tractor we have, complete with home-made wooden wheels!

 

[freemotion]

Hey, just for the record, my Bourbon Red tom must weigh 35 lbs or more and roosts on a four-foot high ledge every night....those legs are powerful! His much smaller wifey has a much harder time getting up there, it takes her about 3 tries and sometimes I have to rescue her (find her first in the dark outside, huddled in a corner on the ground, hoping I don't notice her) and put her on the perch on a regular basis. I didn't plan for them to roost where they do, but I did give in and put a 2x4 there, braced, for them, with the 4" side for them to sit on.