About two months ago, we moved the turkeys from the poultry tractor to free-roaming in the pasture.
When we did that, we just propped the door open to the poultry tractor so they could go in and out for
food and water.
After we had the crazy wind that started a lot of our wildfires, we had a new issue to deal with… The
the plastic cover that was over the poultry tractor was ripped to shreds.
When we got back from being evacuated from the fires, and everything got cleaned up, we realized we
would need to do something to keep the feed dry from the rain over the next two months until turkey
butcher (the weekend before Thanksgiving).
Rather than put more temporary plastic on the poultry tractor, Greg decided to build a small and simple
8×8 structure with a 9×10 roof. Since this is in the dedicated poultry pasture, it didn’t need to be
exceptionally strong. He decided to use any scraps he could find around the Ranch.
If you want to describe it, we would both say it is a very “red neck”, but it is actually sturdier than
planned. We decided with a little help, it actually would probably last several years. We added a few 2×4
supports and got three new sheets of sheet metal roofing. It definitely is not something we are proud of,
but it serves the purpose, and sometimes it just isn’t worth spending a lot of time/money on something
that is out-of-sight from most visitors. On the plus side, this feeder that is currently under the new cover
holds 300 pounds of feed and can be left in the pasture after the turkeys are butchered. With the
current and increased amount of birds (around 300), our automatic feeders in our multiple coops don’t
last as long as they use too, so this additional feeder can be used as a ‘group’ overflow feeder that
should allow us freedom for up to two weeks.
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