Garden Girl TV: Chicken Tractor 6

[LadyLynnaea]

I love these videos, but having raised chickens many times I must say these babies still need a brooding light. They need to be warm until they loose their fuzz and grow feathers. I light could be suspended from the roof but no where does she mentions it.

[Crunchy68]

I like that since the tractor is raised on the wood-sided bed, the door is much easier to access than if the pen were straight on flat ground.

[arnoldcustom]

these are meat birds you only have them maybe 16 weeks and they do not move much, i always had over 500 meat birds in an 8 x 20 shad, year after year for many years

[arnoldcustom]

I cannot believe all the insulting this poor gal is getting, at least she does it, by the way to one comment all you need is one sq foot per bird and that is going by large laying hen, these are a very small breed

[SuperHurricane24]

That is the best chicken tractor i have seen on youtube .

[winnzhang]

where will the chickens go in the winter?

[RosaButton]

Obviously this is just for the chicks and as they get bigger she'll move them...duh...

[kevjay777]

I see she isn't giving any updates about this. I bet she gave away a bunch of chickens over the next few days unless she built a bunch of other coops that size.

[gaardfamily]

I still want to know how / why she places the tractor on her raised bed. Does she move the coop between beds? Does she the garden directly in those beds?

[45has2]

Maybe you should get some help from DIY girl.

[countrymankdx200]

i hope you r just using that for baby chicks and no for when they get older to because thats to small for all them chickens

[durrusman]

@environex I think the glasses are carpenters ones to prevent wood chipping getting in her eyes!........ Great vid thanks a million, made one last week and the chicks love it. Would you be able to make another one for a coop?? Much appreciated

[goodfriendsam]

great rainwater collection feature on top there

[Environex]

??What's up with the shades?? Shades on inside. Take them off outside.

[alfie008]

Love it.

[EarthElla]

Is that enough room for all those chickens? Do you require some kind of licence or permission from your neighbours? What is the minimum involved to manage an urban systainable living garden? Thank you very much for the time and effort and mostly for posting. Peace and joy to you.

[rodrick4500]

the chicken coop is too small you should have made it about a foot or so higher then you could put a second level to give them more room to maneuver

[docwilkey]

thank you for your ideas. It gives me a place to start.

[Jefferdaughter]

Re: the number in that pen, chicks benefit from huddling when young; no doubt she will spread them out as they grow. These are Cornish/Rock cross meat birds; they will be ready to eat at 6 - 12 weeks. Laying hens, of course, need more space. How much depends on the size, the breed, etc.

Treefrogs2 - your choices are respected. Have you ever noticed that nothing in nature lives that something else does not die? "Nothing is permanant, not even death."

Peace.

[TheThornfieldfarm]

you have way to many chickens in that small pen!!

[Treefrogs2]

great, care for them and murder them how barbaric. why not use less chickens for eggs and manure. eat tofu instead.

[homewouldheart]

Thanks so much for all your great ideas, and showing the space is no an issue, you just need to be creative with how you use it.

[sugumargovinda]

Damn inspiring :)

two comments

1) When I do this in april I will make sure it is double the height

2) And I will put only four to six chicks

Thanks for the video

[grofys]

it's funny the way people have to categorize their gardens now: urban, urban sustainable, etc. we always just called it a garden.

[firebrandsgirl]

i know right. I am from the south. we called it our in back hahahaah

[grofys]

there are far too many chickens for a space that small. having raised chickens, i can imagine pecking is a problem. i would have only put 2 hens, at the most, in that size coop.

[QMAN12341]

yeah i know theres like 20 chicks in like 10 feet of space

[ProtestSpp]

Haha she's totally decked out. You can tell she's not a career carpenter ;)

Good idea though! Thanks for he vid

[assman255]

i believe blonds are dumb and nice rack = smart, useful

[MrPoonasty]

what is she a ghetto carpenter? you can tell she knows dick!!!

[straightjacket4sale]

She reminds me Of Billy Martin (I didnt punch that doggie!) LOL

[warbuff1]

I like your videos,they are explained in a way everybody can understand them.I watched a whole bunch of others' videos,some good,mostly not enough info or not well explained at all, so great job!! I personally would have a problem with raising animals for meat,I would raise chickens for eggs and manure for compost,goats for milk and manure,maybe rabbits as pets.I watched a video of rabbit being killed for its meat,I did not like what I saw,I'm sure not much different with chickens.That's just me

[chrisvconnor]

Yeah! Always pull your powertools across the floor by the cord, that's the safest thing.

MMMM PEEPS.Full of marshmallow goodness and sugary coatings.

[SWOOSHI623]

WOW THATS SOOOOOO COOL!!!

[MatuArt]

Thank you again,Safety first, yes

[aztecmija]

eeeeek! i am no vegetarian but i can not stand the idea of raising your own food. i just wouldn't be able to do it. i thought i lost my rabbit and my duck but as it turns out my dad and uncles killed them and we ate them when we were really broke. i didnt know till 10 yrs later but when i found out i was a mess. i cried and cried and had a fit. so yes dont get attached but how can you not? they're so freaking adorable.

[bm5447]

I love cornish hens! They are tasty!

[swimmingfish5]

Does she REALLY live this lifestyle...

[teenmod12]

i know. like, she just gardens and builds stuff. and she makes it look so easy lie a 5th grader can do it. dose she not have a job. lol

[MRSketch09]

"Don't bite me sweety"... in the back of her mind she was thinking "Oh.. what goes around comes around. "

[cwaj]

Awesome, but what is the point of having it over a raised bed. Do you collect the droppings for the garden?

[ArboriusOwns]

The chicken tractor fits into each of her raised beds so once the chickens or rabbits have been in the bed for awhile and the dirt is fertilized she can just move the tractor to a new bed.

[mrsengeseth]

this is fantastic!!! I watched all the videos and I knw exactly what I want to do now for my tractor!! Thanks so much for all the vids and ideas. Off to watch more about the urban sustainable garden!

[dbandg]

i like the idea, but isnt the idea f a chicken tractor designed to be mobile? also it ooks very dark under the tarp. wouldnt it be better to not enclose the entire enclosure with tarp?

just a thought,

[Kevinaoreo]

You are great!!!! Thank you for the vids!!!!!!

[ratmanrod]

it must be hot there becuse baby chicks like that need to be in a brooder and kept at lest 99 degrees .Yes tractor should mean portable.I love the yellow knee pads too matches her chicks

[dogpup23]

its always good to raise your own food, you know where it comes from and how the animals are treated. thanks for the video

[rekena1528]

I got this chike tha leas 3 eggs in one day

[jamiemaas1]

i am wondering why you called it a chicken tractor.....its a chicken coop

[VernittaW]

That's what you call a portable chicken coop.

[711shamn]

u can use chickens as "tractors" because they "till" up the soil with their scratching. after leaving them in one spot for awhile, you'll have bare soil that has been slightly aerated. it will also have much more nitrogen

(POOP)

[morningmayan]

Really enjoying all your videos thank you!

[wigley69]

How does the rain drain off roof?

[MaZEEZaM]

thinking of the chook pen, one easy much lighter material to use would be plastic pipes like the ones plumbers use would be very light then.

[azdober]

I built a tractor out of elect. conduit and chicken wire. The chickens would gather in one corner at night. A skunk came along and killed and ate part of the chicken thru the wire. So, I had to add small wire like the gardengirl did to the bottom 2 ft of the tractor. I built mine 7' tall so i could walk in. Didn't weigh near as much as the one gardengirl built. & It went together really fast.

[Sabei0990]

well then you make a video.

[MaZEEZaM]

nice idea but im not sure what she will do with all the chickens so many for such a small pen, also no nesting place to keep warm, and im wondering where she will stick the chooks when moving the chookpen:S

[markgro9]

Free range the chickens when they get larger. If you own dogs with good herding instincts, you should be able to keep the predators away.

[Coolpix7900]

Meat Birds do not need nesting places. They are as she says meat birds and will lay eggs and such very poorly.

[Travesty1]

I'm wondering that too. She does say "urban" sustainable living. I'm not sure where she's located, but you'd need a lot more space to raise them to slaughter size, even if they are a fast-growing variety that only takes a few months.

[robborob1232]

most if not all people who want chickens in there garden want eggs not meat. the chickens are like pets as well as producing eggs.

[provojoe]

Holy cow! What is she going to do when they get bigger? I don't they're all going to fit in that thing.

[Sabei0990]

I think shes betting a few will die and then she will eat the largest ones to give more room.

[LoraFromOregon]

I would love to try this. I think my kids would too! I like the idea of not having to shovel poop.

[greenguy007]

Do you kill the chickens yourself??

[squirrelkiller247]

u need to put a heat lamp in there in less they die.

[monagie]

That is great, but I wonder, what do you do in the winter time? I live in Colorado and we can have some pretty harsh winters, so I am very curious about this. I would love to do this myself!! Thanks for making it look so simple.

[cometkatt]

this would be a great setup for raising freezer chickens- then you dont worry about winter time.

[Sabei0990]

Chickens are really hardy. Just make sure they have snow free ground and liquid water and they will be fine.

[michellis28]

Very inspiring video, I love it! Where is the pdf file with the plans for this tractor that you mention at the beginning?

[suziq1972]

I wonder how tall her raised beds are? I love the idea of moving the chickens around and not having to clean up their coop. Just compost! I also wonder what to do with them in winter. Didn't see a hen house. Do they stay warm enough?

[markgro9]

Garden Girl has a video series on the raised beds also which you can find on YouTube. I her beds are 16 inches tall - two 2" x 8" boards. I use six inch diameter concrete test samples which are one foot long for my raised beds. There is a concrete testing place in the area which gives them away. It takes fifty cyclinders to create a 4 ft x 8 ft inner dimentional raised bed.

[HTCSWEOD]

Nice! I can only assume that your chick enclosure is standard to fit on all your raised garden beds? How are they sheltered from rain and heavy weather? And, is there a lip on the raised bed, which prevents the tractor from shifting?