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chickens

Urban Chickens Incognito

Christopher Kerrschneider

Posts: 27

Location: Wisconsin

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posted 11 years ago

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I have a friend who wants to know if there is a good way to build a chicken tractor disguised as something else in order to conceal the birds/the fact that it is a chicken tractor, because he has a friend who has chickens in a city where it is illegal to have them and that friend wants to expand his chicken's foraging capabilities via a small tractor (3 birds)

Does anyone have ideas as to what a small tractor (3 hens) could be disguised as?
Some sort of yard art or decoration maybe?
It would definitely need to be something that wouldn't seem odd moved throughout the property. Front yard, garden, side yard.

Thoughts?

My friend's friend would definitely appreciate it.

You reap what you sow

Bill McGee

Posts: 187

Location: Southeastern Connecticut, USA

posted 11 years ago

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Kids toy?...like a fire truck, pirate ship, playhouse?

Okay, Pirate ship, tropical theme. 16 feet of reed fence costs $24. It's 6' high. Cut it 3' high and double it up for opacity.

Do they have children?

John Polk

steward

Posts: 7926

Location: Currently in Lake Stevens, WA. Home in Spokane

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posted 11 years ago

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Or one of those 6-8' diameter 'kiddy pools' with no bottom.

Christopher Kerrschneider

Posts: 27

Location: Wisconsin

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posted 11 years ago

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I do like these ideas!!! Good thoughts.

Unfortunately they do not have kids.

Also, consider that this tractor would be moved around the yard, so having a kinds playground as a tractor would be inconspicuous, it would seem odd to have it moved around the yard multiple times in a day.

Keep the thoughts coming though. Loving it!

You reap what you sow

Jay Green

Posts: 587

posted 11 years ago

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Pup tent.

wayne stephen

steward

Posts: 1748

Location: Western Kentucky-Climate Unpredictable Zone 6b

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posted 11 years ago

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A compost bin. The wire or cattle panel type. The outer wall is a ruse as it is only 8-12 inches thick and stuffed with grass clippings and leaves. You could lean a rake up against it . As you move it along , throw down a scatter mulch and clover/ grass seeds. Maybe it would be easier to disguise the chickens - as poodles or yard gnomes ?

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Renate Howard

pollinator

Posts: 755

Location: zone 6b

posted 11 years ago

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He could talk to the neighbors and see if they care. My neighbors all thought it was cool that I had chickens. The only problem would be if he had a feud-y type neighbor. When I lived in the city a lot of people had illegal chickens, even raised them for cockfighting, which many disapproved of. Unless your neighbor has a grudge against you (and isn't afraid of you, LOL!) you can usually get away with it.

That said, if rabbits are legal, why not put a rabbit cage on top of the chicken tractor and move that around? "The bunny likes to mix up the scenery". LOL!

Open compost bins are often illegal in the city - they can draw rats.

john giroux

Posts: 154

Location: Cumming, GA

posted 11 years ago

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Trampoline, no kids required

Chris Kott

pollinator

Posts: 3847

Location: Marmora, Ontario

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posted 11 years ago

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I am in a similar urban setting myself, but I haven't got the chickens yet. I'm growing tall grasses as foot-thick borders around my front yard, and I'm working bamboo and raspberry canes in, as well as sunflowers. I'm putting two female mulberry trees, one each in front and back, and a male in a shady spot between houses. I am working similar barrier hedges in as sun traps and sight line barriers anywhere in my yards where they fit, and by putting lots of shrubbery where there would otherwise be just lawn, I am creating a space where you can't easily see the ground, even if you're on you're knees right beside the edge of the hedge.

I think chicken feed shrubbery and similarly designed food hedges could be the best solution of all.

-CK

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
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Shane Kay

Posts: 3

posted 11 years ago

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Ummmm.... How about.... a shed

Chris Kott

pollinator

Posts: 3847

Location: Marmora, Ontario

593

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Funny, Shane, except that I think a shed that gets moved periodically and leaves behind clearly scratch and peck grazed patches would be little more incognito than a kiddy pool or trampoline that does the same thing.

My winter coop with deep culture bedding will be housed in a shed, because why use anything else?

I'm firmly in the tall grass and shrub screen camp.

-CK

But why do you have six abraham lincolns? Is this tiny ad a clone too?

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