POULTRY
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purpose. There is a huge variety of designs available, of both ready-made coops and DIY projects. Some smallholders make their coops by recycling items that they have on the plot, from the frame of an old swing seat, to pallets or old trampolines, to the grass catcher box from a mower as the nesting box.
There are many plans available free of charge on the internet, although not all of them are detailed enough. Some tractors are round and domed, some are rectangular with A-frame sides or perpendicular sides. If you intend planting on the patches that the chickens have cleared, the shape of the bed that you want will influence your choice of coop shape. Round beds of course lend themselves to mandala planting and intercropping. Some are big enough for a few chickens, others can house many more. If you want a coop that one or two people can pick up and carry easily, it should cover an area of no more than ten square meters. Some designs have a set of wheels on one end and a pair of handles on the others, so you can wheel it around like a barrow. Others need to be towed by a bakkie or tractor. The permaculturists tell us that a flock of twelve is the ideal size. Up to 20, the birds can recognise all the members of the flock and can establish a pecking order. If you want to keep more than 20 chickens it will be more practical to have more than one chicken tractor. In this way you can separate warring cocks as well.
Small A-frame coops from Budgies to Bantams of Erasmia.
If you are making your own coop, choose a design that uses light materials, such as PVC piping, to enable ease of mobility. Ready-made chicken tractors range from very modest to“ Nkandla” to fanciful gypsystyled caravans, and come at a great range in price. Poultry dealer Budgies to Bantams of Erasmia stocks a wide range of mobile coops, from basic frame-and-wire mesh in various sizes to more fancy and imaginative designs. They can also be used to house a clutch of rabbits.
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