Chicken Tractor or Chicken Tank?

Combustix · May 1, 2012

dmccarty said:
Are the wood poles holding up the netting?
Are the poles in the ground are just tied to the T posts?
What did you string from post to post to hold up the netting?
Has any birds gotten stuck in the netting?

I was thinking putting up netting to protect the Chickens from owls and hawks.

Later,
Dan

Yes the poles are holding up the netting The post are just cheap tree posts about 8 feet long, I pound them into the ground. the only bird netting I can get is 7'x100'. Which is why I went with a smaller pen this year to ensure full coverage. Last year I just had the cheapest black poly line I could get and strung it back and forth, I have also used 15 to 20 lb fishing line the cheapest you can get, as it reflects sunlight and moves all the time, never had a bird go under the fishing line, but I have had them go under nets were there was no protection. Wife saw a coopers trying to leave with a chicken one day as the bird was trying to get out through the net. She got the .22 and got him from about 50 yards, he dropped the chicken and she thought the chicken was dead so she shot the hawk again just for spite, ( the wife likes the chickens even if she's gonna process for the freezer) and the chicken jumped up and ran back into the flock. Have not had any issues this year as I took the extra net and ran it down the sides, so it's all enclosed.

MossflowerWoods · May 1, 2012

foreman Etexas said:
Me and the wife were gonna organize that part of the shed my next days off,well now it looks like I'll be doing that project myself:laughing:I may do it with my 45 on hip

Too close for a .45

That is what happened with the shot gun too, I was too close, the shot was tight pellets and just took a big chunk outta the snake. I had to blast his head off from point blank range.

On the big one, a square bladed shovel held him in place, while the pointed shovel removed his head... MUCH easier...

Be well,
David

dmccarty · May 1, 2012

Combustix said:
Yes the poles are holding up the netting The post are just cheap tree posts about 8 feet long, I pound them into the ground. the only bird netting I can get is 7'x100'. Which is why I went with a smaller pen this year to ensure full coverage. Last year I just had the cheapest black poly line I could get and strung it back and forth, I have also used 15 to 20 lb fishing line the cheapest you can get, as it reflects sunlight and moves all the time, never had a bird go under the fishing line, but I have had them go under nets were there was no protection. Wife saw a coopers trying to leave with a chicken one day as the bird was trying to get out through the net. She got the .22 and got him from about 50 yards, he dropped the chicken and she thought the chicken was dead so she shot the hawk again just for spite, ( the wife likes the chickens even if she's gonna process for the freezer) and the chicken jumped up and ran back into the flock. Have not had any issues this year as I took the extra net and ran it down the sides, so it's all enclosed.

I have not bought from this company yet they still send me catalogs. :laughing: They have different size netting that I was considering to use over the chicken runs. They have widths from 12' to 50'.

Polyethylene Game Bird Netting - FarmTek

Later,
Dan

MossflowerWoods · May 28, 2012

It took all weekend, and buckets of sweat, but I finished the "Chikn Run" attached to the front of the "Chikn Shak", it even has a pseudopond for the ducks.

First pic is the first time I stood up the fence, very temporary. The next 3 pics are when it was all finished for today and the birds were out and njoying their "Yard Time"

In the middle of letting them out for the first time in eons, I went in to check for eggs and there was a big fat black snake SLEEPING next to the community nesting spot FULL OF EGGS! Needless to say I shoveled him to death (and it was not exactly easy) and saw the evidence he had a gut full of MY EGGS! Grrrr!

I was seriously PO'd... I think he's been there a while, eating the guinea eggs (they are smaller) and he finally got big enough to eat the big ones... He was ASLEEP! Right out in the open atop the straw and near the old rabbit hutch nesting spot...

Anyway... The top is open, the walls are 6' tall, and the idea was the guineas can fly up, and then fly down and go on lawn patrol. Only one flew out immediately, and he is too stupid to figure out how to fly back in GRRRR!!!!

I hope he figures it out and does not get "foxed" tonight... GRRRR!

Well, let the teasing begin!
David

RobertBrown · May 28, 2012

Ummm No teasing here....
Really, as bad as I wanted to say.....

Why didn't you just shoot the fox?

I'm not going to.
Cause I know why you busted your ***** this memorial day weekend.
You did it for a young girl and her mom who loves her birds

.
You did it because this is a common thread that you can share with your family and the positive results of same cannot be calculated

.
You did it because your neighbors or the kids your daughter goes to school with are enamored with their cell phones, video games and facebook accounts and this is the REAL DEAL

.
YOU DID IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE YOUR FAMILY AND I COMMEND YOU FOR THAT.
Looks good from here, and I sure hope it solves the problem lest I have to come up there and kill that rascal myself.:thumbsup:

MossflowerWoods · May 28, 2012

BTW... I had a ton of help from my wife and daughters, but these are the only photo's I've got to prove it...

She was an awesome helper too... Always handing me tools and such. Just look at her working hard...

Notice the trenches, we buried 1' of chicken wire at an angle at the bottom of the fencing...

I still need to wire tie some of the chicken wire to the welded wire...

Tomorrow is soon enough...

David

MossflowerWoods · May 28, 2012

RobertBrown said:
Ummm No teasing here....
Really, as bad as I wanted to say..... I'm not going to.
Cause I know why you busted your ***** this memorial day weekend.
You did it for a young girl and her mom who loves her birds .
You did it because this is a common thread that you can share with your family and the positive results of same cannot be calculated.
You did it because your neighbors or the kids your daughter goes to school with are enamored with their cell phones, video games and facebook accounts and this is the REAL DEAL.
YOU DID IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE YOUR FAMILY AND I COMMEND YOU FOR THAT.
Looks good from here, and I sure hope it solves the problem lest I have to come up there and kill that rascal myself.:thumbsup:

Robert,

You are exactly right. My daughters mean the world to me, and they were so happy when the birds go to come out to the play yard.

They were also happy I found and killed the snake and not them...

The foxes (and it looks like there are AT LEAST 3 full families of foxes, maybe 4) their time is limited. I'm gonna see them when armed, or I'm just gonna poison them, or somehow, someway they WILL go down, but this weekend was about making life better for my 2 bigger daughters by making the lives of their ducks, chickens, guineas better... And by spending time with them...

Yes sir, you are right.
Thanks,
David

Taylortractornut · May 29, 2012

We arent allowed to work in lightening at work. So one winter I traded for chickens and needed a tractor for them. I I had a 30 inch by 72 pallet come out there and I put it to the side. Then some 1/2 and 1/4 sheets of 3/4 plywood and a bent tin pannel cam out there. I moved it to the polebarn on the site. Sure enough we had a thunderstorm and me and the compactor operator were waitning around for something to do. We started in I knocked out about half of the top of the pallet slats.

Then took them and put them in the gaps of the other half. THen took the plywood and part of the 2x4's I found. I made the fram to the wire and a door and made the coop with a side door to access them. It worked really good for 3 chickens. I moved it around the yard each day. I let them de weed till and fertilize the areas I wanted to put flower beds. I also used it for weeding nutsedge out of the rows in one of my gardens.

tungularafishcamp · May 29, 2012

Looks great David and looks like you and the family are enjoying the spring!

MossflowerWoods · May 29, 2012

tungularafishcamp said:
Looks great David and looks like you and the family are enjoying the spring!

RICK!

I've been wondering about how you were doing! When things get stinky, I pretend I'm going to head up to your place for some hard work and peace and quiet...

I hope and pray you and yours are well sir!

And thinks for the kind words, nothing is square at this place, absolutely nothing, so I did the best I could think of to do. The baby had an AWESOME time "helping me" she hadnever before had access to my tools... so she kept bringing me one... or using it herself...

David