pvc chook tractor

[pootle]

hi all
found these plans-
http://www.pvcplans.com/pvc-pastured-poultry-pen.htm
has anyone made one of these?
if so what are the pitfalls etc
if not do they look any good? or should i avoid them like the plague :lol:

any help appreciated
many thanks
sam

[Squeak]

Pitfalls:

Inadequate shelter.
Too small.
Expensive (and fiddly) to make.
Pipe becomes brittle with age.
Butt ugly.
Flimsy construction - wouldn't withstand adverse weather.
Hope you're not intending this for sole use as a coop.


Advantages:

The site provides a better option via the Greenhouse plan.
You have the option to avoid like the plague.

Cheers,
S. :D

[Cornonthecob]

I think they can look good....and if you place it under shade (a tree etc) that should help it to last a little longer. Maybe something to throw together quickly and cheaply until you've made something more permanent??

One thing though is that they don't look natural...whereas something made of wood, old rusted iron etc seems to 'blend' in more. Having said that....I use poly pipe to make my shade tunnels.

:)

[pootle]

hi guys :D
thanks for the replies
it was my intention to use it as a tractor only during the day& to move around the garden - i would have a permenant coop for night -

will have another search for tractors - i am after something fairly easy & cheap(ish) to make

thanks
sam

[Hils]

Hi,
I'm new to this list, so this is my first post. For about 3 years, I have been using Linda Woodrow's Permaculture Home Garden to set up a veggie garden at our rural property about 30 km north of Canberra. I've charted my progress (or sometimes lack of it) on a blog
(http://musingsfromoz.typepad.com/). We started out with a 'classic' dome (and had similar problems to those people have mentioned on this site in making the smallest circle - PVC pipe is NOT meant to bend). After the dome blew flat, we eventually replaced it with a geodesic design. If you search for 'geodesic chook dome' on the web you'll find a site with instructions for many different sizes of dome. I'm sure one of the smaller ones would be perfect for a chook tractor.
Cheers,
Hilary

[blinkblink]

Hilary,

Thanks for trying the chook dome from Linda Woodrow before I did as now I don't have to. :)

Chris

[PULSE]

whats wrong with a nice rectangle chook tractor. I designed mine to fit my raised beds.

[blinkblink]

Nothing wrong with rectangles except when you want to use the in a round space.

Linda Woodrow's book has an excellent plan for setting up a mandala vegie patch. There are 6 circular areas for planting which the circular chook dome fit nicely for the 2 week rotation.

Chris

[barely run]

Made the round chook tractor as per Linda Woodrow. Worked very well as garden bed preparation. Chooks seemed happy and healthy, but had problems with egg eating.
Problems: Our weather ... high winds across wheat paddocks combined with high temps twisted the dome badly. Changed to a metal cage....was an old stock crate turned upside down...worked much better.
I think the dome works in small acerage/suburban type setting. Next time I'll try combination of tractor...free range and shed at night.
Cathy

[ho-hum]

Years ago I looked at the PVC chook tractor thing and dismissed it due to price and concerns that it would act like a big parachute in windy conditions.

I have a round off a water tank about 10' across and 3'6'' high that worked wonderfully. I had heavy mesh on top with shade cloth over it. That worked a treat, each day or so it was dragged a little way to provide fresh grass for whatever was in it. Chickens, chooks, lil pigs etc all prospered in there. It's a great way to create gardens or renovate lawn.

floot

[blinkblink]

How did you attach the mesh to the top of the tank section?

I want to have lid that can be lifted so I can get in to get the eggs etc.

I was thinking of making it slightly lower so I can step into it without causing damage to sensitive parts of my anatomy.

[hedwig]

PVC is not sustainable not recyclable an hazardous to produce.

[ho-hum]

Blink,

The mesh wasnt attached it was heavy mesh like for fences or concreting and the other half was covering with shade cloth held down by a couple of 4x2s. It wouldnt be too hard to wrap some No. 8 wire around the rim though and attach chook type mesh to that.

It did have an access design fault.. :D it was bit high. I had a besser block on the outside that let me step over or mostly I just grabbed a passing kid and put them in there. Mostly it didnt have laying chooks in it, either chooks with chickens or half grown chickens.

[pootle]

thanks for the input guys - i havent been around for a while - we eventually ended up moving & i have spent the last 6 weeks decorating the whole house :?
it is now complete - (thank goodness) & my garden is now the focus of our days. unfortunately we did not start anything off with the garden yet as we were going on holidays & i didnt want to get any chooks before then
so now we are ready for the chook house - we have chooks on stand by (a neighbour has to get rid of hers as she is moving - so they are on the way to me :D ) & we are desperate to organise the chook tractor
i have confused myself totally with all the different designs etc - so am now beginning my search again - does anyone know what the size of the tractor should be for 6 chooks - i am thinking about using as a perm house at the moment - as the plot is so bad weed wise - then after we will use it on the beds only & have a perm area set up with compost heap etc, so obviously we want to make sure it is big enough & safe for the chooks
like i say i have totally confused myself so any help would be fantastic
sam

[TropicalRose]

This is one of those great ideas that can help solve the chook problem.

http://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture-onl ... floot.html (http://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture-online/artfloot.html)

I was going to build a chook dome from pvc too but after reading all this stuff I realise its not suitable after all.