More than 2 dozens hens have been killed in a crime spree that still is not over.
In a move of desperation, all poultry and waterfowl were moved into a "safe house"- my horse trailer has become their home for the hours of darkness, and the bandit has not figured out how to get to them in there.
We set a trap for the culprit, and it took a while, but eventually we caught one bandit. A very large, and well fed raccoon who nearly filled up the trap was nabbed right in Cluckingham Palace!
Only 6 hens, and two under-protective roosters, had survived his night-time feasts. Since then we have lost two more hens and caught an egg-stealing possum. The loss is depressing.
Which got me wondering- do we really need 30+ chickens? Each year our flock has grown a bit as the kids have gotten baby chicks to raise as 4-H projects. Most of those hens no longer laid many, if any, eggs as they were old biddies. We no longer need a bunch of 4-H hens as Youngest is in his last year of 4-H. And, we do love our eggs, but sometimes we were getting a dozen or more eggs each day!
What if we just had a few hens? What if I could control the buggers better so they don't tear up my gardens, unearth my iris corms, peck at my tomatoes? What if I could do a better job of keeping them safe?
When I lay down to sleep, my brain goes into overdrive most nights, and I have to give it a project to figure out. I let it go through the steps of whatever project, and think of details, work through potential snafus.... and eventually it comes together and I can sleep. Every so often the imagined solution then becomes a reality as I create the project when awake.
So, for a few nights, my brain was given the chicken problem. And, eventually after a few nights of different ideas and then different designs, my solution was to build a chicken tractor.
Welcome to the new smaller, safer royal residence-
Hensington Palace.
It has a detachable front stair for the ladies to climb and descend.
It has windows to open on the sides for breeze in the summer months, with hardware cloth built into the structure to prevent critters from coming in through the windows. There is a plexiglass window in the back to let in light in the winter and allow for observing the hens within. Two large doors open on one side for easy cleaning of the house.
Within is 16 linear feet of roosting room in two different levels so they can choose to roost in the warmer upper level or the cooler main roost.
Three tidy nesting boxes on the side make collecting eggs easy.
Hensington Palace is a mobile home. It is on wheels so we can move it wherever we want the hens. The next phase of the Palace is to make a secure enclosure for the hens to spend their daytime hours. This will all be movable around the farm so the hens can have fresh grass- and do their "doody"- fertilizing all the while.
If you have spent time at Cowfeathers, Hensington Palace may look familiar. I mimicked the design of our mudroom.
Now I need to get the geese and ducks out of my horse trailer!
Hmmm... should I get ready for bed so I can plan out "Ducksembourg Palace"...."Wingsor Castle"...."Fallingwater-fowl"?
