Week 3

The meat chicks turned 3 weeks today---the day officially they should be out on pasture.  But it has been so hot here that the greenhouse was beginning to fry some of our chicks.  So for the past week I've been putting them out in this temporary pen.

With the girls away and being left with all the household and farm chores, I really didn't have any time to build a tractor.  I still don't.  Today me and hubby built the sheep a better stall.

That was huge on my to-do-list because I truly hated mucking this out daily.

We've decided to go with the deep bedding method for the sheep since they soil their beds so quickly.  But this meant a week later and still no chicken tractor and I was getting just as frustrated as catching fifty chickens every night and every morning as I was dealing with stinky stalls.  So I made another makeshift tractor but this time they will be able to stay inside all night long.  I used the brooder box and converted it using chicken wire and tarp to keep them contained.

It will obviously need alterations as they grow (or better yet build a whole brand new one) but for now it's one less task first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  Meanwhile, the little buggers are getting bigger and growing more feathers---yet look bald as can be!