How Long

[Ginger]

I've read through the threads and watched the videos. I don't think this question has been asked and answered yet. How long do you wait after you move a tractor before you can plant the bed?

[gardengirl72]

Good question. I rotate planting my beds so it works out to be 3months before I plant each one.

[Ginger]

Do you have a permanent coop for the chickens, when they aren't in the garden?

I'm working on a garden design and trying to get a complete picture of all this. Sorry if you've already answered this question before. I didn't see it, but I might have missed it.

[Ginger]

I've tried looking at all the videos, which I've watched several times each. I got a lot of glimpses of your chicken tractors on several different videos that were not about chickens. It seems that your design evolved to include a sort of shelter on one end. Also, in a tree planting vid, you had what looked like tractors in a grassy area. Do you keep chickens in the raised bed part of your garden all year? In the video you said you'd made 10 tractors. Where do you keep them?

I'm asking all these questions, because I failed miserably with my first chicken tractor three years ago. They dug up the lawn, even when I moved the tractor daily. I couldn't keep them fed and watered properly. I had a hard time gathering eggs. They were constantly covered in mud. In the winter, the eggs and water froze--the whole 5 gallon waterer. The water stayed frozen for about three months so the chickens ate snow. I moved them into the old green house and covered it with tarp. That was better in some respects and worse in others. Finally, I got rid of them last fall after they escaped from the greenhouse and emptied my raised beds of soil. Yup it's all over the decorative pea gravel. Also, I didn't want another winter of chicken abuse and slogging through several feet of snow.

I seriously need advise. So how do you do it exactly?

[macnugget]

I would have a another coop to put them in the winter as for frozen water go to backyardchickens.com and look up watering and feeding I use a light bulb in a cinder block and put my waterer on top of the block it keeps it from freezing