Bob

I love and respect hawks, love that they nest in my trees and have for as long as I have lived there. I wish the lazy bums would [...]]]> I have been enjoying having my chickens run free during the day. Sadly the hawks have also enjoyed having my chickens run free during the day.

I love and respect hawks, love that they nest in my trees and have for as long as I have lived there. I wish the lazy bums would get back to eating rodents and leave my flightless birds alone.

So now I am making chicken tractors.

Chicken tractors are mobile chicken coops. Nice for gardening as chickens will in a fairly short time over graze and area, eat all the seeds, sprouts, weeds, plants, bugs, you name it, and leave the spot quite fertile. A week or so in one spot, and you move the tractor. Now you have a nice plot to garden, and the chickens are working on the next spot for you.

This works well on flat surfaces, level gardens and the like, but can be more complex for rougher terrain.

Part of the issue is that it needs to be large to have lots of floor space for chickens. You want at least 2 square feet per chicken, probably 3 to 4. The smaller the tractor, the less efficient for space. A 4 square foot cage uses 24 square feet of wire, but if you keep the height the same, a 16 square foot cage uses 64 square feet of wire. The smaller cage uses 6 square feet of wire for 1 square foot of floor space. The larger cage uses only 4 square feet of wire per foot of floor space.

While it is more efficient use of chicken netting to make a larger cage, when you make it bigger, you make it harder to move. It also needs more structure. When you add the roosting, egg laying, supplemental feeding and watering, you add weight and structures. If you make more tractors per chicken, you end up reproducing all of those structures. So creating the ideal system is a challenge. There are a lot of trade offs. Additionally it is nice to make the thing a bit pretty or you just have a chicken wire cage with pinned birds in it.

One advantage of multiple cages is that breeding is made easier. If you are trying to improve your flock, having a multitude of cages can really help you keep track of and control your crosses. So smaller cages can have advantages.

With a pleasing form, a cage can instead be a grace to the yard, and make the whole thing a bit more entertaining.

Bob

Pretty lightly blue or green or even pinkish brown eggs.   I do love these chickens.

Bob

Critter can get along fine!

It is not like this is a particularly good dog either.

This girl loves her chickens.

And her puppy.

I love it when animals and folk get along.

Sometimes a rooster can be downright [...]]]> This is Chewfa, named oddly after an almond tasting root called chufa, that is the original source for the delicious drink horchata.

Critter can get along fine!

It is not like this is a particularly good dog either.

This girl loves her chickens.

And her puppy.

I love it when animals and folk get along.

Sometimes a rooster can be downright evil.  I’m not getting along with this rooster.

Some roosters will protect their flock, and even risk themselves for their flock.

This is a good rooster.  He will fake having an injured wing, to give the other chickens a chance to run.  I love this guy.

Here he is getting between me and the chickens after seeing me take away the bad rooster.

Brave fellow this one.  I plan to breed for this fellows personality.

Bob

You can click on it for a larger view.  Skip and I have been discussing art for quite a while, these discussions have really drawn my attention to the importance of expression.   I think our tools have quite a bit of [...]]]> I am trying to explore styles of art.  So far, I have drawn a cartoon.

You can click on it for a larger view.  Skip and I have been discussing art for quite a while, these discussions have really drawn my attention to the importance of expression.   I think our tools have quite a bit of influence on our work.  Apart from their function, they  are examples of form that we hold and use.  We place them in cabinets where we can view them as we work.   Their curves, embellishments and miters influence and inspire our decisions on form.

Bob