The Tradition of the Chicken Tractor Continues

We have been hoping and dreaming of getting our own chickens for years now. It was so exciting when the chance to make that a reality became possible. Trent and I are no strangers to raising chickens. In fact, we became fast friends as teenagers as we poured over the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog. Not joking! 

Trent's "sanity" project while studying for his board exam was planning this chicken coop. He drew out the plans and came up with this awesome rendition with the help of his cousin's architecture expertise and software. He would not allow himself to start on the actual coop until after the exam as time was at a premium and he didn't want to distract himself. In fact, he even invited a few friends (Ming Chih and Dallin Parkinson) over to celebrate. They called it a "MANly Tool Party," where it was all things power tools!

The kids were SO excited to work on this with Daddy. They were out there working for a week solid with him. By the end of the week I was feeling frazzled. Then I realized that I had been alone with Matthew all week trying to distract him from wanting to be down working, and responding to constant requests for drinks of Gatorade from the worker crew in the hot and humid garage.

Trent tried to find every chance he could to let the kids do the building.

And when adamant curiosity of a 16-month old obsessed with all the noise outside couldn't be restrained, he and I would go outside to satiate his fascination with the process. He was pleased as punch. He even found the hammer a time or two and couldn't be happier as he pounded away (me being very aware of the potential for him to hit his eye). Here they are peeking through the nest box hole. I love these faces!

When it was completed but no chickens were yet inside, Daddy suggested that Heidi and Nathan had a sleepover. It was still snug and safe inside the garage at this point. I came home from a church meeting to find two kids happily sleeping inside this cute cottage. 

And then the day finally arrived for the coop to move out to the back yard. Getting it from garage was no small task. There was only 4 inches of clearance to get out the garage door. Gratefully, our neighbor offered the use of his trailer. Yes, there are chickens inside of it at this point!

Now this isn't any ordinary chicken coop:

It has wiring for heaters and lights during the winter (that can connect to an extension cord).

A timer for the light to turn on in the winter so the girls keep producing eggs.

Since our younger years of chicken farming a new utility has entered the commonplace: Chicken Nipples. We saw these online and thought we'd give them a try. They are like the rabbit water bottles that only let water out when they peck at them. Trent plumbed this watering apparatus to a hose connection on the outside so the kids can refill the water as needed.

We put a trap door in the bottom of the coop so they could enjoy their "yard" below their living quarters while being protected from our local "critters." The trap door can be opened and closed from outside so, again, the kids can easily take care of everything without too much adult involvement.

The axle and wheels were the trickiest part. Trent got the idea for retractable wheels on YouTube. He initially bought supplies to make a set of axles, but when he saw that the software calculated the weight to be close to 1,000 pounds he realized he needed something better. He finally found a welder who helped him design them. They didn't turn out half bad!

And there she rests! Isn't it so cute? It is fun to look at it sitting in the backyard with happy chickens running around!