Our New Chicken Tractor and Some Advice

Here is the chickens new home. It is a portable chicken coop. The idea is to move it to a new area of pasture each day. The chickens spread out the manure, eat the bugs, and leave, ahem, fertilizer on the ground. In the end you have, healthier chickens, healthier eggs, and a healthier pasture. The boxes attached to the right of the coop are the nesting boxes. All you have to do is lift the lid and check for eggs. It is pretty cool.

And now for the advice. If you ever decide to move to a farm and you think "Now that I have all this land I am going to get a dog." And then if you think " Wow, those Labrador Retriever puppies are so cute and I heard they are very smart dogs, lets get one of those."  DON'T! Because it will inevitably eat your flock of chickens. They are bird dogs you now. And then when you have beautiful garden beds (like mine below) and the sprouts are coming up and you can just picture all of the beautiful vegetables you are going to put on the table. The cute, smart, Lab will dig up your garden beds. Not once, but twice. They like to dig you know.

Up next: Pretty, expensive, white vinyl picket fence to go around the beautiful garden beds to keep the cute, smart, dogs out. UUUGGGHHH!

Comments

[5gustos]

Oh, no!!! I can sympathize. We have labs too. They are great dogs, once they grow up a LOT! Our sweet little 8 wk. old lab puppy killed a Morning Dove the day we brought her home! She just ran over and grabbed it. She can run like the wind. Oh, and you have got to read the book, "Marley and Me". It's about a guy, his wife, and their lab puppy who grows up. They also happen to live in Florida. How appropriate for us? But it is hilarious. I need to read the kids' version to my crew. They have it out now too.

[Elizabeth]

It's a very small world... I found your blog while doing an internet search for "chicken tractors." Turns out you're another Real Learning mom!

So now I have to ask... What made you choose this particular chicken tractor over all the other ones out there. I'm having a hard time deciding. We're hoping to start with chickens this spring...