Concept: A fowl wheel
A new way to do a chicken tractor.
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I got an idea for another way to build one.
Follow along...I'm making this up , and drawing it with sketchup...as we go.
FIRST...we need a flat surface...either a slab...hard ground...rock..or a table.
Size is irrelevent..make it what ever size you or your birds want.
Chikens might take a larger Fowl Wheel than Quail(for example)
find the center.
that's where the axle goes.
around the axle goes tub. I was thinking of building one out of plywood but then I though about kids wading pools,or stock tanks...or whatever. What we need is a 'tub'...however big in diameter you want and at a guess...wall six inches high.
(again...this is just 'free hand' so to speak. Use any dimension that you want)
the tub could be supported from the axle...or perhaps put caster wheels under it so that it just rotates..the axle just keeping it in place.
build the fowl cage something like this.
The main idea is that the tub can be filled with compost and bird feed can be planted in it. The tub rotates slowly UNDER the birdcage. Wire bottom...space close enough that the birds can't get out..but wide enough that the plants , some kind of grain, can get in enough so the birds can eat it.
The advantages are..the cage stays clean..the birds get fed...the birdfood plants fertilized..and because the tub constantly rotates it doesn't get overgrazed .
the birds are always protected from direct sunlight, by solar panels on top...which powers the motor which Slooooooooly rotates the tub...and pumps the water that irrigates it...think fish tank sized tubing...and fish tank sized pumps...12volts I'd guess..
And other advantages.
HEY..
I think I'll build something like that on the SteemDreem..
Quail eggs...and quail meet...almost for free.
waw your topic motevate me to build something like that goodjob :)
let us know how it works out.
take pictures
makes posts about your progress.
hhahaha im nott a professional but i have to try ;)
go for it.
Professionals built the titanic
an amateur built the ark.
Interesting idea. I'm always on the lookout for better ways to manage my chickens. Thank you.
I'm planning on refitting a houseboat...small one.
something like that might fit over the rear deck...and provide eggs and meat..
maybe.
I always thought of having a round chicken house and a fenced in area around the house (too many predators). The fence would be sliced off in equal areas, with one section being the human entrance and each of the other slices having a chicken door. The door that opened for the chickens would change each week. This would allow for grass to regrow or maintenance in the other areas.
I like the chicken tractor ideas, but free range chickens without protection would be sitting ducks in a lot of areas. Might as well setup a buffet line for the predators. I guess, if the chicken tractor and the fenced in area would move around on a automated basis, I would be more inclined to like it.
that's the whole idea of a chicken tractor. It protects the chikens..and it moves.
My idea is for the tractor to be stationary...the food moves under the birds...
in my concept the food is hydroponically (next best thing) grown..in a tub (pool ...whatever) which rotates UNDER the birds.
Well, they let the chickens out of the tractor during the day to work the field. Daytime predators and all. That's what I'm saying.
why?
that defeats the whole concept.
the idea is to keep the chiken IN the tractor..and move the tractor.
it's basically a mobile chicken coop...chicken wire all the way around..even on the bottom..the grass and stuff pokes thru.
The chicken tractors I've seen used have been for free range chickens out of the tractor.
I guess everyone does it a bit different.
red necks are like that.
True, I saw it in the "Mrs. Priddy's Redneck Code of Conduct and Manners." I believe it was under the chapter "That's not how you do it!"
probably written by a Yankee
who ever heard of a redneck with manners?
Very cool idea. Have you built one and tried it?