That piece that stayed with us!

You know, the garbage truck wasn't a total wash. Rodger only plunked several hundred dollars in it to make it work - when it did work. However, we were able to come one step closer to being a smidgen like rednecks than I'm comfortable with. Rodger calls it being resourceful. He is the smarter one of the two of us, so he's probably right! I told you how he has saved us thousands of dollars over the years by being very mechanically inclined and able to fix things up. Well, he put that truck cap to good use. The cap that was on the garbage truck became a chicken tractor.  Basically a chicken tractor is a home for chickens to live in that is movable, versus a standard chicken coop. You can move it around your yard to a new spot every day and the chickens are protected and they get fresh bugs. Everyday! Oh, and your grass becomes incredibly green (in our case, the weeds thrive like there is no tomorrow).  We have a standard chicken coop that houses our laying hens but this chicken tractor was for special use.  It was for the chickens that were intended to be on our dinner table.  Broilers

                                                                                                                                                      

This is a typical chicken tractor.  But not ours.

                                           

Big shout out to Bible Fellowship right here!  That is where we go to Sunday morning worship!  We love it there.  When we started attending BF, we didn't have a clue as to what it meant to homestead.  Well, we had a small clue, but we didn't act on it.  No sirree.  We were grocery store addicts all the way!!  I mean, yes we had a small garden that we grew our own tomatoes in and a few other items of interest, but get me to the grocery store for my grub.  Oh, and I did learn how to can foods from a most beloved friend of mine, Barb.  I am forever indebted to her for that gift of knowledge she bestowed upon me!

Not any more.  We are puritans now!  We have been converted.  We have whole wheat berries for grinding(but we don't have a grinder. Yet.), a pantry shelf for our "end of the world" supply (but don't come here when it is the end of the world because Rodger said he wanted to paint a really large red and white target on our roof.  He wants to go first...  So wait, come here to get your food.  We won't be here, so it should last you about one month.)  We have a lot of toilet paper.  I mean a ton.  Rodger got wind that supplies like that were going to be scarce so he sent me to Sam's Club post haste!  I mean seriously you guys, that right there is some wheeling and dealing power!!!  WE HAVE ALL THE TOILET PAPER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD IN OUR BASEMENT!  Anyone want to trade?  OK, I am joking, but we did get quite a bit and as we use it up I replenish.  We can thank our comrades at BF for spurring us on toward love and good food!  The toilet paper part came from a chat room that Rodger frequents.

So in our quest to be all pure and natural when we can, we decided to raise our own broiler chickens.  How hard can that be?  I mean, EVERYONE at church was doing it.  Why couldn't we?  Turns out, it isn't hard at all.  It is one thing that actually is not so difficult when it comes to knowing where your food comes from.  Assuming you don't kill your chickens off via injury to their legs with your chicken tractor.  But whatever.  There is always a learning curve.

We put our order in for the chickens and we decided we would go small.  25 is a good number to start with, so let's try that.

We knew we ("we" is used VERY loosely) had about 3-4 weeks to get a chicken tractor built for our little tender morsels.  Since we were getting them the first week of May we knew we would have to keep them in the baby swimming pool before they could be moved into the chicken tractor.

Now you guys want to know something about me?  I like things to look pretty.  I mean seriously.  If we are moving on to another piece of lawn decor, can it at least look good?  But alas, I live with Senor Functionality.  Rodger will sit around for weeks sometimes, thinking of a project and then trying to figure out what we have on hand to use, how much he needs to buy and mostly: How cheaply can it be made?

My Polly Anna idea of a chicken tractor, but not ours.

So he had a plan for the chicken tractor.  I was so excited.  Almost giddy!  I envisioned this pretty hoop house that was like a half circle with a little door in it for us to get in easily, where our little chickens were going to live...  Oh Polly Anna!  Why must you have come to set up camp in my head?  WHY?  All our friends at church were making their chicken tractors and theirs were pretty.  Heck, they even had big wheels that made moving the tractor easier (insert Polly Anna.  I have no idea what everyone else's tractors look like.  I'm just guessing.) 

Polly Anna died that day.  A very painful death.  Why?  Because my chicken tractor had the words "truck cap" associated with it!  Oh. The. Pain.

No matter how Rodger tried to explain it to me, I walked around in a state of delirium.  A truck cap?  For a chicken tractor?  For real?  There isn't ANY other way to do this?  I had major Beverly Hillbilly bells going off you guys.  HUGE.

But Rodger is nothing if he isn't creative.  And I love that about him.  Except once in a while.  Then it is just a nuisance. That is usually because Polly Anna set up camp somewhere...

So in the end, this is what we got:

 Ours.

 

Now really, I do think it is very creative and I think Rodger only spent like, $30-$40.  Pretty good if you ask me.  Ladies, you know the thrill of the hunt when you have gotten a good deal on some shoes or an outfit.  Likewise, I know men thrill at the idea of seeing how cheaply something can be accomplished.  This chicken tractor is one of Rodger's magna opera (plural for magnum opus. I never knew that.)!

However.  It does not qualify as pretty.  What is really funny though, is that when we have had chickens in it, the men tend to flock around it and stand and stare at it.  Then they hash out what it cost to make it.  Then they move on to end of the world talk.  What kind of guns do you have?  How many jars of jelly did YOUR wife can?  We have toilet paper to trade, what do you have to barter with?

It goes on...

So when we raise our broilers, this is their very happy home.  The bonus is that the grass back where they are at is some green grass.  It grows like mad and is so bright.  It's probably the only spot where it is green and actually grass.

Again, I don't really care anymore about what our chicken tractor looks like.  I can't really help because the wheels are really small and you need a Mountain Man to move it.  Insert Rodger.  I'm not sure if we are doing our own chickens this year because we found someone that will do them just as cheaply.  If we do end up raising our own I'm sure we'll have pictures up! That'll keep you up at night.

Love, the Beverly Hillbilly's