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Australia
I ran away from teaching to the country to grow veggies. There are also some chooks and a pair of troublesome goats who were so much trouble they had to go! My simple green life isn't always as simple or as green as I'd like...but I keep trying!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Tractoring along

From this....


...to this ...TA DA!


It only took me two hours and a couple of skinned knuckles. 
The chicken tractor has a nest box with a ramp going up to it...very cosy.


It has a handle at each end.  To move, just lift the handle at the back and the wheels swing under allowing it to be moved about easily.  It is sturdy but quite light and maneuverable. 


Heckle, Jeckle and Emily tried it out...but they didn't look too impressed.  

I will be putting Lavender and Indigo in it on a semi permanent basis.  
Their job will be to work over the garden under the tractor.  
Another advantage will be that Indigo will be further away from the bedroom windows...
he has a very screechy crow!

I prepared this post last night...and this morning Violet (remember 'her') also began to crow...not very well, but definitely a crow.  *Sigh*  His name is now, Violetto!

Indigo and Violetto will have to go.
Three roosters is just too many!

13 comments:

  1. very nice chook tractor, Hazel. We have been toying with the idea of one for our garden, but we do feel very guilty about copping our chooks up that much. We only recently took them from free ranging on 11 acres to hemming them into about 100sqm. I am not sure we have been forgiven for that, yet. Even with a rotating roster system for tractor duties, we may just put them off the lay permanently.

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  2. The tractor looks great! I thought of getting one. I would love to have chickens but the backyard needs to rearranged for them I think and my Jack Russell dog would think all his christmas' had come at once!!

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  3. Looks great! Where did you get it from? I really like the idea of the tractors. Josh on Gardening Australia did a story a while ago about the rotating vegie garden system with one of 6 beds being tractored by chickens at all times! Great idea huh!

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  4. Daffodil, I feel a bit guilty about the two chooks I will keep in the tractor too. But they will be moved around a lot and have good browsing available.

    Phoebe I bought the tractor at the Seymour Alternative Farming Expo. It is from Southport Showplace In Burleigh Queensland. This is their smallest model but good for what I want. check out www.chookmowers.com.au. to see their range and prices. You have Joel though and he is proving to be handy. Maybe your dad and he can knock something up much cheaper than a bought one.

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  5. If you rotate the occupants it seems fairer.They don't like the lack of space despite the goodies.
    Violetta hey? It happens.Regularly.
    Have a fun day.

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  6. That's not a chicken tractor. That's a Winnebago Deluxe.
    We had our ladies in a chicken tractor for a while (nowhere near as large or fancy as yours) and they didn't seem to mind as long as it got moved frequently. Now we use it as time out for Cluckies. One day I want to use it as a nursery for some chickens.

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  7. Oh dear, sorry to hear about your girls being boys. I won't ask where they're going! I can hear at least one of my roosters crowing next door. Mr P must have decided to keep them but now he has three - not a good idea but I'm keeping out of it.

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  8. Ha, that looks clever and convenient Hazel! 'What's that?' was on my mind when I first saw the photos.

    I'm sure Heckle, Jeckle, and Emily will get used to it :)

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  9. Beaut chook tractor.
    Well made :D

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  10. Awesome! From the first photo, I wouldn't have dreamed what the end product would look like. My husband's in the process of building me a tractor. Actually he calls it a chicken-sled. I think that means I will be "pulling" it around the yard..

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  11. I know now what a chicken tractor looks like... I had visions of chickens hauling it or being hauled along by it, rather than living in it - you know, like agricultural tractors haul trailers and ploughs and things.

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  12. Looks like a great invention!

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