Enviro-Shelter Experiment Spring 2013 (WK-15)
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-24-05 Earth Continuum 7 281
A neighbor farm liquidated all their chickens so now we have chickens. Lots of chickens
so we are building chicken tractors, for the gardens, and building some more pens trying to assimilate all these birds onto the farm.
We have come up with a pretty basic design for what we are calling the, Chicken Train. The plan is to create multiple units and cart them between the rows of garden vegetables thus allowing the birds new areas to cultivate. The chickens will enjoy the new vegetation, and as well leave behind some valuable fertilizer as the train moves along. The units will have wheels when completed. One of the workers said that the design looks like a wagon train top from the old west so that term kinda stuck as the Chicken Train.
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-25-05 Earth Continuum 7 280
Interest in developing self-sufficient farms is picking up. In a perfect world every citizen would be allowed a piece of land back onto the country side as an option. For at the end of the day there is only one place on Earth where people can survive during a real economical crisis and that is the family farm. People in general have lived for so many generations within the cities, dependent on everything being piped, pumped, wired , super marketed, asphalted, to and from their front door that the idea of being sufficient out on the family farm has faded from their memories, but not their DNA. People still have this kenning ability to adapt to their environments, but as long as greed is King, I don't see any type movement starting in the Earth among the humans any time soon.
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-26-05 Earth Continuum 7 279
Today I am concerned about the rain for we haven't received any in weeks now. So for now we have shut off the water turbine in order to conserve the water in the main Lake. Also we have shut off the gravity feeds to maintain Lake levels as much as possible.
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-27-05 Earth Continuum 7 278
Today we are building more chicken tractors. I am hoping to have at least three fully functional chicken trains in the garden this week. Here we have the first section of a chicken train in its installed position between the garden rows.
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-28-05 Earth Continuum 7 277
Today you guessed it, more chickens, and more chicken pens, and hen nest. The chicken train and the pens got new hen nest today. We also completed a new pullet pen, for the young ones. We came up with this design of turning planter boxes onto their sides and arranging them in rows for hen nest. The idea got tested out by the very hens themselves and it seems a success.
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-29-05 Earth Continuum 7 276
Today the chicken pens are getting more technical with automatic watering troughs. Also in the world of chickens there has to be some jostling around of the Roosters, for some just will not get along with others. Little Mac looks into the pen at the Biddies as they are so glad to be out of those tiny little cages.
Most of the larger tomato plants got their cages today, as many are already putting on a lot of green tomatoes. The vines are starting to grow like mad.
Sol-Era Log Entry 2013-30-05 Earth Continuum 7 275
We now have two completed, Chicken Trains. It is a simple theory, really. A chicken tractor can be moved form one area to another in your pasture, yard, or garden. This allows the chickens to eat bugs, grass, and even clear weeds to their heart's content. They always have fresh pasture and yet they are completely protected. When they have been in one area for a day or two you move them further down the row. Our rows were spaced apart in such a way to allow for the chicken tractors, and or mulch hay. The garden also has three strands of electric fence around it as added protection from predators.
The second Chicken Train is launched. In between is a row of corn. For now during the test we only have one Engineer Rooster, and one Hen passenger per chicken train. The trains are very easily moved down the line using a hand truck. By lifting up the front just a little with the hand truck the train rolls forward or backwards on down the track with these lawn mower type wheels in the back. The Chicken Trains are made with PVC pipe for ribs, treated 1X4 sides on bottom, threated 2 X 4 for bases, plywood ends, metal roofing tops, dog kennel wire, and ripped pine 1X1-1/2 slats for horizontal purlins. The doors are made of hardware cloth onto a 1X 4 frame that slot into a channel on the bottom then closes with a hasp. Flat metal truss brackets reinforce the back of the door frames. The wire is stapled on using 1/2 inch stainless steel staples, then use screws with washers across each bottom to pinch down the wire very tight. The wire mesh used can be smaller or larger depending on the size chickens driving the train.
We are using full grown large chickens so the dog kennel wire works fine, and is stronger for keeping out any creatures that might happen along and try to infiltrate the train. If you do choose to use a smaller mesh chicken type wire it still will be wise to layer the kennel wire over the top. O yay, we ran some slats across right under the roof for roosting, and added two planter boxes for nest on each side of the door inside so it is easy to access any eggs.
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