Today we brought this group of little chickens out of the brooder and set them up in the pasture. Between the strong cold wind and the nightly freezes, we had to give them some help.
To block the wind we tarped the end wall. Our chickens get exposure to American consumer culture, with a Blade Runner movie billboard for a roof and a McDonald’s billboard as a windbreak.
We also rigged a propane brooder hover heater in the shelter. The heater does a good job taking the edge off the cold overnight. It isn’t cost effective to run it full time, but I think for future shelters I’ll incorporate heaters in each one.That should go a long way in improving chicken comfort in early spring and late fall.
4 thoughts on “Heaters on Pasture”
Very creative!
that is a huge shelter…how do you move that thing?
The shelters skid along the ground pretty well with the tractor tugging. If the ground is dry, even a tired old 1/2 ton 4wd pickup truck can pull them. If the grass is wet, the lugged tires on the tractor are necessary. I don’t know how small a tractor could be used. Ours is 65 hp and about 4 tons, so definitely not a monster. It is probably a matter of the towing vehicle weight and the tire condition being the two most important factors, and engine power doesn’t matter much.