Chicken Tractor and our Homing Chickens

April 17, 2013

The ideal scenario for the chicken tractor would be for the chicks to scratch away the grass and poop in a garden area to prepare the ground and then we would just cover it up with mulch. I am not sure how this is going to work exactly for two reasons. 1. In order to get from the coop to the garden area, we have to cross the driveway (they do NOT like this). 2. the chicks LOVE the run (mainly wooded) and it’s easier to just let them out in the run so I am not as motivated to do the tractor. We’ll see. We made the tractor – may as well use it!

The other day, we moved the chicks to the garden area in the tractor. When we got to the driveway, they all piled up on the nesting box. They did NOT want to touch the paved drive! We wet it with a hose so if it was warm, the water would cool it down. It did not matter. They wanted nothing to do with it.

When it was time to bring the tractor back to the coop, we walked out there and all of them were PILED on top of each other in one corner of the tractor…the corner facing the coop. We had just listened to something on NPR about homing pigeons so I was wondering if I lifted up the tractor, if they would just go back to the coop on their own.

(all but two in one corner of the tractor)

I was nervous because 22 birds is A LOT to catch but 1/2 of them followed my husband across the road (a little reluctantly) and to the coop. the other 1/2 followed until they reached the road and then had to have A LOT of coaxing to get them to cross the road. Once they did, though, they headed straight for the coop with little corralling. It was interesting and neat to see 🙂

(mad dash out of the tractor, straight for the coop)

(pacing…refusing to cross the road on their own)

(The two middle children & myself worked together to shepherd them in the right direction. Eldest daughter didn’t have the patience – she just picked them up & put them where they belonged. Child #4 is…well…a dinosaur? trying to get them to follow his ‘marching orders’?)

I am linking up to Simple Lives Thursday…when will I deem adding chickens to our lives as being ‘simple’? 😉 They sure are fun though!

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