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My 401K - It's Always Going Up!

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Created on Saturday, 27 August 2011 04:44

Last Updated on Saturday, 27 August 2011 04:45

Published on Saturday, 27 August 2011 04:44

Written by seedspreader

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You may know that we have recently purchased some bantam chickens. Well, like all good homesteaders (how often do I have to do this before I get this right???) I purchased the chickens and THEN worried about housing them. Well, let me correct that, we have a shed, that was a former coop, that will be a coop again... but it was filled with a TON of crud. All the crud is sitting on the lawn right now, and the chickens are in... well, I suppose I should back up a bit. As I've posted before, we like to make things from things that are here and reconfigure them for bigger, grander and extended purposes. In that back shed, there were two long rails with 2x2 ballisters in between them. They may have been used in the house at one time before they put up the railing that is currently being used. I don't know.

One thing I know is that most people looking at them probably wouldn't have thought much about them, but as soon as I took them apart, I began envisioning a chicken tractor. So I sat down and thought out how to put them best to use... how to make this chicken tractor a good quality tractor that was practical and utilatarian, with a bit of beauty built into it. (Hey, I was using stained wood...) So this is what I put together. Keep in mind that when I tell you the prices, that I know that if YOU build this tractor it will cost you more because you don't have the materials I do... but that's not the purpose of this writing. My purpose is to motivate you to look around at what you have and design around it. So, with that said, join Noah and me on our journey. I named the coop my 401K because it's our investment. If the stock market continues it's spiral... I'll still have eggs. Plus now every time I move the tractor I can tell people that i've been moving my 401K around.

You can see the basic design. I didn't do a step by step photo of this because I did it in the afternoon and evening over three days. There are three 2x2 squares connected by 1x4's on the sides. The braces that are showing are actually on the botton of the house (it's upside down in this picture) and it's where the nesting box sits. The nesting box was made with pieces of old plywood that were sitting around here. Keep in mind that during this 3 days of building, that the chickens were living in a couple of little crates we had here. They kept getting out... but hey, that's no problem because they are in the garage right? Well, the garage, although 5 attempts to the contrary, is filled with stuff. I mean, we've emptied it like 5 times, but we get a little more brought in here or there... and it just has a bunch of junk in boxes. Oh, and did you know that bantams are aggressive and accomplished flyers? What do I mean by aggressive? Well, picture this if you can. We lost one hen (outside) while moving them from the box we picked them up in, to the crates. That hen is still outside and around our road (in the neighbors yard across the street right now). She flew off pretty well. Ok, a hen outside, bantam (which tend to the feral side definitely) and she flies... no big deal... right? Well that's not where it ended. 5 of the chickens got out. (Don't ask, I have no idea, except that I know that it was "not me Dad".) So they were running around the garage. I sent the kids out to catch them. I didn't think they would necessarily be able to do it, but they needed to be kept busy any way. So when they came in, somewhat defeated, I wasn't really surprised. So I headed out to help them. Through much chasing, clucking, feathers and chicken poo flying (Yes they CAN fly up to my rafters in the garage) we were able to capture 2 of the hens, one of the roosters and just had one rooster and one hen to catch. So we cornered the rooster. (A really beautiful bird, by the way.) We figured he would run into one of our quickly made dead ends and he would be added to the caged, chosen few. Let me tell you... it's possible to underestimate a rooster. They are incredible creatures of nerve, ego and veracity. I guess when you get up as early as they do every day and challenge the night and see the sun come up in response to your crows, that you can get a little "cocky". That rooster, that was cornered with Noah on his left and me on his right, looked me right in the eye, jumped up in the air, and flew right past my head. Now he didn't do one of those "I'm-a-dorky-chicken-flapping-my-wings-shuffling-my-feet-pretending-to-fly-type flights. He believed he was a bird of prey and had the wing stroke of an American Eagle. Hey, that was fine... there was a wall there and a window, so he wasn't going anywhere... or so I thought. Have you ever seen something happen where time just seems to slow down and every little visual detail is magnified? Sort of like a scene out of a movie... that rooster flies right in front of my face, and I flail at him. I miss him totally. He is moving like a bullet. A feathered Dynamo of purpose and energy. I mean, this is a POWERFUL flight. Did I mention it's powerful? As he goes past me, I see he is aiming for the light of outdoors shining through the windows. Oh, no, he's going to knock himself out, I thought very quickly and clearly. Well, I was wrong he didn't knock himself out. He hit the window with such force that the whole window sent out ripples, the kind you see on a pond when a stone hits the surface. And just like the stone, he broke right through that window. I mean, there was a split second, where I thought the window would hold and he slowed, just a split-second and as the window broke, he doubled down, gathered all that was within his super-sized heart and continued to fly. Now listen, he didn't just fly out the window 5 feet and then run away. I was watching after him and all I saw was tail feathers and wings flapping and the chicken proceeded down the hill and out of my sight. (What's that lesson about not buying birds until you have a place for them??? Tell me that one again Grandpa. I won't roll my eyes... no I mean it.) So if you're keeping count at home, we have six birds... but the hen is wandering around and periodically showing up. That rooster... Tyler told me he saw him in his back yard and he went outside and that rooster flew directly into the woods. So if you see a rooster flying like an eagle... send him home.