Chickens on the Go

Kind of a side view of the trailer.

     Here is the beginning stages of the our new chicken house on wheels. 

     It's built on the base of our old pop-up camper that we used to camp in when the kids where younger.  Boy, did I love that camper!!  It was an old Starcraft camper from 1984.  It wasn't in fashion anymore, but it was very "homey" and I loved it.  It was hard for me to let it go, but I had too. It was beyond repair according to my husband, and I didn't want to believe it!!

     In April of 2009 we were headed west for a week of luxurious condo living and skiing at the Grand Timber Lodge in Breckenridge, Colorado.  We were sooooooo excited!!  We started saving money about two years before our trip so needless to say we were anxious to get going.

     But we sort of had a dilemma.  How were we going to move 12 people over 1000 miles in our 15 passenger van along with all the skis, boots, poles, food, winter clothes, and more for our family?  We couldn't really rent a trailer and we didn't want to borrow one, so what were we going to do?

      Well, along with my husbands creative idea and family input, we decided to use the base of the pop-up camper that had been sitting in the back yard for a while.  Because the camper was in bad shape and we couldn't use it anymore, Landon went ahead a while before and ripped it apart and scrapped what he could so that the only thing that was left was the frame and the wheels.  Then he parked it in the back yard to "store it" until we could come up with a use for it. 

     Well, that day finally came and we knew just what to do.

     So, in less then a week, we had our new "storage transport on wheels" built, electrified, and painted and we were off!! 

     Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do a project, huh!?!  Yea, we're bad at that!!

     Once we all took our seats in the van and started for the mountains, I realized that there was no way we could have done this trip without the camper. 

Colorado mountains here we come!!

The only picture I could find with our newly built trailer.

Landon, Barrett, Shane, and Dakota

     After our Colorado trip, the new trailer became our transport for camping trips, day trips, and moving junk trips and then it became our doughnut trailer to transport all of our "stuff". 

     And after years of use, it had to be retired because it was beyond repair, again.  But we haven't forgotten about it and once again it was ripped up and thrown away; all but the frame and the wheels.  And at this point, the "scrap" is waiting to be hauled over to the burn pile.

     And so the building begins again.  This time into our mobile chicken house.

     This is Tanner's project and so far so good.  He's had very little construction experience, so along with his dad and his brothers input, he's off and running.  And what a great way to learn!  Sure he's had to change plans here and there as we talk about things, but that's okay.  He'll get it done and done well. 

     As far as the details go, we can talk about that later.  But since the floor is already done, I can tell you that it's made out of expanded metal so that when the birds "mess", most of it will fall through the floor and fertilize the ground as the house moves across the pasture.  And, it should be easy to clean also.

     Tanner says that he should be done with it by the end of this week, so we'll see.  I hope so, because I'm anxious to get it it filled with some baby chicks!!  We would like to get one more batch of chickens grown and processed before winter sets in.

     Oh, and just a quick question before I sign off.  Have you ever eaten a chicken that was grown out on fresh pasture?  If you haven't, you're in for a treat!  It's hard to explain how fresh and clean these birds taste.

The front of the trailer.

August 18, 2015
Sandy