What a relief! I’m done with the chicken tractor! And I’ve ordered chicks! I’m ready for business!
Except that right now, the chick brooder is housing 4,000 ft of irrigation tubing…
So I might not be ideally prepared.
As promised, here’s the rest of the chicken tractor building experience.
By the way, last week when I didn’t finish the tractor, I don’t believe it was all due to the rain. I was just kind of stuck. The arcs refused to stand upright. They’d just lean to one side, scorning my most valiant efforts. I zip-tied single conduit “beam” across the top. I imagined a variety of conduit braces. I sat on the bench in the garden: limp, disillusioned, and near tears.
Then, inspiration struck:
I used all-powerful self-drilling screws and ten-foot lengths of scrap roofing to hold the arcs upright. Plus, this creates a (hopefully) wind-proof, raccoon-proof side. WA-HOO-WA!
Next I used zip-ties and strong woven wire for the back of the coop. This woven wire is 2×4 inches, so I’m not sure if I should add some finer chicken wire along the bottom to keep inquisitive raccoons discouraged.
Then I had to decide how to design the front. I started by creating a frame for the door, drilling holes for the door posts.
I flattened the top of the “door post” conduit pieces using a complicated set-up involving a hammer and rock.
And fastened the whole shebang together using self-drilling screws.
Also, I clipped and zip-tied the wire on. Notice the time-warp? Yes… I was working on this during a snow storm.
Next, I zip-tied a woven wire over the arcs. I had to drill a few holes along the top edge of the roofing to secure the wire.
A few notes:
1. Can you tell I love zip-ties?
2. I found working in a snow storm quite enjoyable. When I sliced my finger on some wire, it was amusing to follow my own little trail of blood on the snow. It was kind of like a mystery… and I was the one caught red-handed.
3. As enjoyable as snow-working is… I obviously took a (significant) break before the final step:
Just putting together a door and putting it in the door-frame. Also, I attached an 8×10 ft tarp over the coop using (guess what?) zip-ties!
So now, we’re just waiting for the chicks to arrive.
And, of course, we need to deal with the irrigation tubing…