I have had chooks for years and think they might like a perch outside. You could get a branch and poke it through and across the middle of the grass area. Tie it to the cage at each side. I am sure they would love to jump up there and roost. I think it is a good system and great you can move it to fresh grass often. I definitely wouldn't put more than 4 in there if others are thinking of getting one. Chooks look happy with it.
@@midgeporter7495 I also looked at one but could not justify the expense. I bought a self build wooden one 13 years ago and it is still going strong. I replaced the roofing material and added a small tarpaulin as very windy here. Never paid more than £150 for chicken house. I have 6 Bantams and 2 standard hens.
Chickens (mostly) have an instinctive urge to shelter as the sun sets, so they always go inside the coop at dusk. I set the door to close a little while after sunset to be on the safe side.
I see your point, but as a movable "chicken tractor" I think the advantage is it can be moved, even just the distance of it's own footprint, almost every single day (with the rare exception, as was mentioned, when the owners are away overnight for a day or two). So the chooks are on fresh ground almost every day or two. My only concern is that around the base of the run is just a small flimsy skirt of wire mesh. I had poultry for many years in rural Western Australia. Our main predator problem for domestic poultry was English Foxes (imported 100 years ago, without proper forethought). However it was mentioned in this video that locally they also have Badgers, Weasels and Stoats. I would have thought they could tunnel and squeeze into the run , and I would like to see a wire mesh enclosing all the bottom (like some Rabbit or GuineaPig hutches have... that are also intended to be moved daily onto fresh patches of grassed/lawn area. Certainly in New Zealand, we have problems with Stoats mostly. (Zero Badgers and Zero Foxes. Some areas of NZ have stoats and some maybe have Weasels and Ferrets also. But there have been measures to control them as they eat especially the ground nesting and flightless, NZ native birds).
@@dorothyeaston3393 She explains in the video, that they are NOT free-ranging because in their area, already free-ranging are...Badgers, Weasels, Stoats, and Neighbour's Dogs. They want their hens to be safe, and NOT some other animals free lunch !
@KiwiCatherineJemma I have free ranging chickens and live in the depth of the country. I have hawthorn hedging with chicken wire and at one end of garden that backs onto a field I made a barrier (lion barrier Out of Africa film - haha) made with all prunings and branches, it's very effective. Also I have a movement spotlight on house that covers the whole garden. We have foxes and buzzards here. I have a dog that guards the chickens.
I have had chooks for years and think they might like a perch outside. You could get a branch and poke it through and across the middle of the grass area. Tie it to the cage at each side. I am sure they would love to jump up there and roost. I think it is a good system and great you can move it to fresh grass often. I definitely wouldn't put more than 4 in there if others are thinking of getting one. Chooks look happy with it.
Thanks. That was really helpful. I'm hoping to save up for one.
Glad it was helpful!
@@midgeporter7495 I also looked at one but could not justify the expense. I bought a self build wooden one 13 years ago and it is still going strong. I replaced the roofing material and added a small tarpaulin as very windy here. Never paid more than £150 for chicken house. I have 6 Bantams and 2 standard hens.
Fit 2 - 4" to 6" wheels to the bottom of the ladder so it glides over the uneven ground.
Gosh, that seems expensive!😮
Question about the automatic door: how do the girls know to go inside before it closes?
Chickens (mostly) have an instinctive urge to shelter as the sun sets, so they always go inside the coop at dusk. I set the door to close a little while after sunset to be on the safe side.
@LifeOnTheCroft That makes sense! I thought the coop might play them a little jingle to get inside or something 😂
Oh, that looks like very little space for 6 hens.
I see your point, but as a movable "chicken tractor" I think the advantage is it can be moved, even just the distance of it's own footprint, almost every single day (with the rare exception, as was mentioned, when the owners are away overnight for a day or two).
So the chooks are on fresh ground almost every day or two. My only concern is that around the base of the run is just a small flimsy skirt of wire mesh.
I had poultry for many years in rural Western Australia. Our main predator problem for domestic poultry was English Foxes (imported 100 years ago, without proper forethought).
However it was mentioned in this video that locally they also have Badgers, Weasels and Stoats.
I would have thought they could tunnel and squeeze into the run , and I would like to see a wire mesh enclosing all the bottom (like some Rabbit or GuineaPig hutches have... that are also intended to be moved daily onto fresh patches of grassed/lawn area.
Certainly in New Zealand, we have problems with Stoats mostly. (Zero Badgers and Zero Foxes. Some areas of NZ have stoats and some maybe have Weasels and Ferrets also. But there have been measures to control them as they eat especially the ground nesting and flightless, NZ native birds).
Why aren't they free ranging, you've got the space?
@@dorothyeaston3393 She explains in the video, that they are NOT free-ranging because in their area, already free-ranging are...Badgers, Weasels, Stoats, and Neighbour's Dogs. They want their hens to be safe, and NOT some other animals free lunch !
@KiwiCatherineJemma I have free ranging chickens and live in the depth of the country. I have hawthorn hedging with chicken wire and at one end of garden that backs onto a field I made a barrier (lion barrier Out of Africa film - haha) made with all prunings and branches, it's very effective. Also I have a movement spotlight on house that covers the whole garden. We have foxes and buzzards here. I have a dog that guards the chickens.
They actually only have 4 .