Geoff Lawton's "Chicken Tractor on Steroids" now live!

Love the photos , thank you.

So are you both using no bought in pellets?

I've started using Geoff's system but with 10 hens and a rooster. I haven't got a trailer but have propped up their dome to let them out into a run. I previously described what didn't work as a run but am now using about three foot high chicken netting with about 1 inch holes. Have also clipped their wings and so far no escapes. I can't quite bring myself to dispense with the pellets entirely but they're definitely eating less. I will do without pellets but I'm still just getting into routines of making sure they have enough other material to replace the pellets. They don't yet have the number of turned heaps that Geoff's ones have access to....another few weeks.

Very interesting setup, Mr. Lawton The video is of very high quality.

And I like the fly-in coop idea.

Karen Walk wrote:Hi Milo - I love your fly-in-coop! Can you provide more details about it? How high does the entrance need to be? What kind of take-off and landing platform is needed? How do you accustom the birds to it?

I googled "fly-in-coop" but the only results I found were about "flies" in the coop, so any outside links or resources are appreciated!

Thanks!

Nice! Yeah it takes advantage of the chickens ability to fly.. (if you don't clip their wings). And none of their usual predators can fly! (Except the red tailed hawks and eagles ..but.. they're pretty awesome quite frankly and probably deserve a chicken every once in a while)

The smooth sloped face is key.. it prevents any predators from scrambling up to the fly hole.. We have our hole up about 5 feet. They fly straight up from the stand (see picture, we keep it about 3-4 feet from the coop) and rest themselves in the hole before jumping in.

Yeah they needed a little help at first.. We put up a board to the hole that they could climb up. (We removed it at night so they had to fly out in the morning) It only took a couple of days before we had a few of our ladies flying in and out. And chicken see chicken do..

I havn't able to find any other fly-in coops or online either.. an old timer round here gave us the idea.

But yeah no feed! We let them free range a couple times a week.. keep plenty of green biomass in their compost cage (list of plants above) and move them after they've cleared all the vegetation..

Experiment with it I'm sure it can be improved on.. Our coop is pretty heavy, even on wheels it's a tank.. ha.. The next one we build will be lighter

Have fun

Thanks Milo!

Not a mobile set up. But I did put my last 10 or so broilers in with my compost pile today and they are having a ball.

An update on my attempts to put into practice Geoff Lawton's "chicken tractor on steroids". I'm still not 'there' but I'm definitely on the way. During our Winter the chickens have been housed in one or both of our tunnel houses with extra area outside. The outside area is moveable so that they never run out of green grass/weeds to graze on. I've been making compost in the tunnel houses. Each week I start a new heap with some fresh manure collected from elsewhere on the farm; cow, sheep, donkey and/or guinea pig. House or garden scraps are added each day as well as any slugs and snails that are collected from the garden. Because the volumes are lower than in Geoff's system, (because we have fewer chickens), I've been combining the heaps so that I get one heap about every three weeks that is big enough to heat up.

They've also been getting sprouted wheat. I previously fed sprouted wheat and got NO eggs but within a week of feeding pellets they were laying. However, this year we've been getting a few eggs right through winter from some pullets and now that day length is increasing, (I'm in New Zealand), the older ones are joining in with more eggs each day. So, I'm satisfied that they are getting enough protein. I consider that to be the major hurdle to cutting out bought feed. Even if this was all I achieved our feed costs would be dramatically cut and their would be no unsustainable, imported portion in their feed.

But I'm not satisfied! As we get into Spring and Summer there will be more and more garden 'waste' available and I'm able to get cafe scraps between October and January. So, I'm hopeful that I can wean the chickens off bought feed altogether. Also, last year I built up my worm beds so I'm hoping that this year I'll be able to expand further and have spare to feed to chickens and ducks.

I've been working a similar system with the ducks and they are also beginning to lay. They are in a fixed pen which includes a pond. There is always grass growing in the pen but I think I will sell some to reduce the numbers anyway, (from about 23 down to 8-10) so that grass can become a bigger portion of their diet. Their are some large New Zealand flax bushes in the duck pen. I've been piling up the dead leaves which, if left about a week, seem to attract good numbers of worms. Each morning I just turn a layer off the pile to form a new pile. This exposes worms which the ducks snap up in the twinkling of an eye.

jimmy gallop wrote:Here is my attempt to post a pic and
this run is attached to my chicken pen and they can come and go in it as they please 70 ft long and it takes them about two weeks to clean that space.

I love this, I've sene it refered to as a "chunnel" (chicken tunnel), I think it's a great compromise for my chickens anywya. presently I keep them in their chicken yard, but I know they have a desire to roam free, except, when I let them roam free collecting eggs and keeping a tiny deck (as well as even feeding the dog) became very challenging. A tunneling system where they could roam to open enclosed areas throughout, including the forest even, and between gardens would be awesome. How much does something like this cost to setup and what are the parts? Thank you Jimmy

The video at the top of the thread has expired, but this might be the same project: