Carport Made Into Chicken Tractor
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“Last spring I decided to raise about 150 ‘free range’ chickens to sell to local food markets. I wanted the chickens to get fresh grass every day, but I didn’t like the cost involved in using commercial portable chicken coops so I built my own out of an old carport. It has an all-steel frame that’s light and sturdy,” says Jeremy Stilson, Morley, Mich.
He got the 9 by 20-ft. steel carport free from a neighbor. He used a portable bandsaw to cut 2 ft. off the bottom in order to reduce the coop’s weight, dropping the height to 6 ft. Two 21-ft. sections of 1 1/2-in. black pipe serve as skids and are welded to both sides of the carport. Stilson used self-tapping screws and 1 1/2-in. fender washers to fasten chicken wire across both ends of the carport. He installed an aluminum screen door on one end, using 1 1 /2-in. sq. tubing to make a door frame. “The chicken wire at both ends of the coop provides plenty of ventilation,” says Stilson.
The coop rides on four 16-in. tires, one on each corner. Each tire is connected to a 4-ft. long cam lever handle, and by lifting the handles the operator can lower the tires and raise the coop off the ground for transport.
“Total cost of the project was about $300, with most of that for the tires and the aluminum siding,” notes Stilson.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jeremy Stilson, 21847 Four Mile Rd., Morley, Mich. 49336 (ph 231 414-4978; stilsonfarms@gmail.com).
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Carport Made Into Chicken Tractor LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous “Last spring I decided to raise about 150 ‘free range’ chickens to sell to local food markets I wanted the chickens to get fresh grass every day but I didn’t like the cost involved in using commercial portable chicken coops so I built my own out of an old carport It has an all-steel frame that’s light and sturdy ” says Jeremy Stilson Morley Mich He got the 9 by 20-ft steel carport free from a neighbor He used a portable bandsaw to cut 2 ft off the bottom in order to reduce the coop’s weight dropping the height to 6 ft Two 21-ft sections of 1 1/2-in black pipe serve as skids and are welded to both sides of the carport Stilson used self-tapping screws and 1 1/2-in fender washers to fasten chicken wire across both ends of the carport He installed an aluminum screen door on one end using 1 1 /2-in sq tubing to make a door frame “The chicken wire at both ends of the coop provides plenty of ventilation ” says Stilson The coop rides on four 16-in tires one on each corner Each tire is connected to a 4-ft long cam lever handle and by lifting the handles the operator can lower the tires and raise the coop off the ground for transport “Total cost of the project was about $300 with most of that for the tires and the aluminum siding ” notes Stilson Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jeremy Stilson 21847 Four Mile Rd Morley Mich 49336 ph 231 414-4978; stilsonfarms@gmail com
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