The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching

Poultry Tractors

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Sarah Meaders:
Ok, I think I figured out the picture thing. :)

The white coop, the "Ameraucondo", is our first set up. The next two had little improvements, such as the different type doors on the run (under the coop), the front door on the coop, the different roof, and the pen (not pictured) has a better door that opens in instead of out. I do like the metal roof better. Because of the shape, it gives more ventilation. Plus, it is much lighter weight.

We did not put the peel and stick tiles on the inside of the third coop. They don't hold up well. I use sand on the interior for moisture control and more heat retention up here in Northeast PA. The nesting box is blocked off in this pic, but is opened up when they get close to laying.

The Ameraucasa houses my Paul Smith babies from Texas, and the Ameraucondo holds my babies from the Bayou (LA Mike) as well as my Wyandottes and sex links. 

Right now, for winter air, I have a type of black tarp covering all of the sides of both the pens and coops except for the southern sides, as well as over the top of the pens. This helps protect them from the wind and snow. Of course, right now we have NO SNOW! Since we normally do have a foot or more by now, I didn't intend to move the pens until the Spring thaw. I don't think I have a picture of them now covered. But when we did get pretty cold and windy, when I was tending to their food and water, as soon as I stepped inside their pens, it was immediately noticeable that they were warmer in there! So I am pleased with that.

What do you think?

Birdcrazy:
What do I think? I think you have a pretty neat setup! It looks like you put a lot of thought into the plans and continued to make improvements as you went forward with more building. I'm jealous! You are right, a tarp can make a big difference as a windbreak and to shed water from above. With our winds here and frigid weather, I usually only get about two years out of heavy poly tarps. That's a pretty cheap investment compared for the comfort they provide for the poultry. Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

Don:
Sarah I like the coop and run set up.   And I expect it works really well to get them out on new grass.  A rotation of 4 weeks should give the grass plenty of time to recover too.  Giving them access to the ground gives them both space to grow out, and makes them happy to scratch and find insects/grit.  Lots of us let some of our stock free range when we are able to carefully watch them.  Your system is one that gives them a level of protection and containment while giving them larger grazing areas over time.  You are right, the roof material can add significant weight.  Asphalt shingles are great for stationary coops.  But corrugated or 5 crimp metal and plastic does a pretty good job to make it more portable.  Gordon had a predator problem even with an asphalt shingle roof.  So I need to be aware that the  the lighter roofs, and even sidewalls in my case, can cause problems down the road.  I do have an electric fence charger that I can rig up when predators seem to return repeatedly.  This helps me deter damage until I can trap and reinforce the coops after trouble.  I do not have a dog that runs out at night, but that seems to be a good option.  The sand floor cover seems to work well too.  Does it help in the winter more than shavings?  How many birds can you comfortably keep in each coop?  What are the dimensions of the coop?  You touched on summer heat.  Do you have summer vents too? 

The woven tarps are really light and do a great job for a time.  Some breeders are able to get used billboard vinyl tarps for a reasonable price. I've seen these on Ebay too.  The free advertising you gain may not be to your liking.  But the reverse side is black and can cause heat gain problems during summer.  You can buy white Rubber roofing that is similar from contractors or suppliers in your area.  You can get paints that will cover roofing materials as well.  Hypalon paint seemed to work well for building roofs.  These tarps are heavier and last for a good while.

Gordon, I don't know what to tell you about the name.  I don't know if they are implying that we are the mules or if the chickens are the tillers of the soil.  But it's much simpler than saying "portable chicken pens...I have to move around the yard..."

Sarah Meaders:
Thanks, Don and Gordon! I do let my chickens free range as much as I can, but there are times when hawks come around, so this system saves them. Plus, when I start the breeding and hatching, this method keeps them in the breeding groups I want while still keeping them on good pasture and happy. Last year, I let them eat down and till up each area completely and when I moved the pen, I planted a chicken forage blend. I will do that again this year with all of them. As long as I am diligent with moving them before it is all tilled up, the "pasture" grows back nicely.

One thing we are going to be looking at this year is the summer heat. Of course, it doesn't get real hot here, but this coop is better suited for the cold. I would like to add a couple windows covered with hardware cloth, but have a flip down door over it for cooler days. The ventilation we have now seems to do well for the moisture control, but not as much for cooling off in the warmer days. So that is something we are looking at improving on.

I do like the sand much better than the pine chips. I use sand in my brooders, too. Stays much drier, easier to clean, and the chicks get their first taste of natural grit. I have learned, though, that the chickens dust bathe inside the coop a lot with the sand! That is fine, but the Ameraucondo girls are doing it right by the nesting boxes, which makes for a very messy nesting box! What is good about that, though, is I put DE in the coop sand now, since they are dust bathing in it, they are making it easy for me to keep them mite and lice free. The cleaning of the coops is easier with the sand, too. Just need a kitty litter scoop. I get play sand from Lowes or the hardware store. Some people prefer the construction style sand, but I like the finer grain...makes it easier to scoop the poop out. The sand also is a great insulator for keeping them warm.

The way I designed the roosts in that U shape and a flat board....the flat board makes it to where they sit on their feet, keeping them warm. We were going to see how they did this year in the sub zero temps, but we haven't had that frigid cold yet! But if they still struggled in that intense cold, we were going to put some heat tape on the roosts, like the kind you put around pipes...doesn't get too hot for their feet, and gives just a touch of warmth on their bums to take the chill off, without the risk of fire. We haven't done it yet, because we don't know if they will need it, and we haven't had it cold enough here to test the warmth in the coop yet. The U-shape keeps their body heat centralized, too.

As for capacity....the coop measures 4X8, but about 1 foot in the front is the platform and ramp down, so the interior is about 4X7. Right now, the most I have in one coop is 11, and they all roost on one side and about half of the back. So theoretically, I could easily put at least 5+ more birds in there without crowding them. Now, in the summer, I am not sure I want much more than that in there unless I get the windows in to let air circulate more to keep them cooled off. That's a lot of body heat! But the 11 roost lined up, and still have room to stretch sporadically. I actually sat and watched them one night just to see how they fared in the space capacity. These are full grown New Hampshires, Delawares, and Barred Rocks, so large sized chickens. Not as big as Jersey Giants or Brahmas, but bigger than Ameraucanas. The pen is 10X10 with two roosting bars running the length of the sides. Plus the ground under the coop gives approximately 130 square foot of ground. Only 100 square foot gets rotated unless I move the coop, too. It takes my 11 about 3-4 days or so to clear out the grass in that area. And especially when I have the tunnel in use, they run around back and forth a lot playing and having fun. It is so cute watching them go through that tunnel! It is like a game to them. And they all line up on the bars a couple times a day and rest. In the spring and summer, I dont' have the top tarped, just poultry netted. They bask in the sunshine, and the run under the coop gives them breezy shade. and protection when it rains.

Birdcrazy:
Sarah, fresh grass, room to roam, secure roosting at night, shady well ventilated area in heat or rain, tunnel games and mite and lice free area. Now with the possibility of heat tape on roosts (I never thought or dreamed of that), do your birds know how spoiled they are? It looks like you have all your bases covered. Out of curiosity do you do anything special for frozen water in the winter. That's my biggest problem and time factor doing chores in the winter time. I use 5qt rubber tubs and don't fill tem clear full. If they freeze fairly full when it's 20 below they are hard to get the ice out. If I only fill them 1/2 full I just turn them over stomp on them and the ice usually comes right out. This adds up in time for all the pens, and in the mean time my hands are getting numb. Some days do the chores in shifts, go to the house and get warmed up and then out again. I have a few 3qt ones but the ice always freezes tight in them and are hard to stomp out. Chore time for me goes from 45 min to 1-1/2 hrs a day in the freezing winter. Yikes, when it's 20 below or colder!

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