My Chicken Ark

[altman]

got the idea from this ThaiVisa thread

from there i followed this link and decided to build a chicken ark.

i had never heard of these things before, but we have a couple of brooders and this seemed like a good thing to do.

basically it is a chicken coop on wheels. move it from place to place in the garden allowing the chickens to roost, rest, poop, play, and eat underneath, and then move it on to another spot.

while i have no experience with it yet, it seems like a good idea for adding fertilizer to the garden and clearing bugs from it as well.

i had a couple of very old and decrepit wheels from a country moto bike trailer. i took off the tires leaving just the rims. i figured i am not talking about revolutions per minute, but revolutions per week so these should be ok.

these were used, with bamboo spacers and copper wire 'nuts', on a piece of rebar we had laying around. the rebar was nylon 'tie wrapped' to the frame. so, as long as we use it sparingly and slowly, the wheels should last as long as the frame. i figure 1 - 2 years and then replace it, or forget it.

we live in a small rural village. dimensioned lumber is not available here. any kind of squared wood is generally difficult to find locally. for small projects such as this, bamboo is king. all other materials, except the wire, was stuff just laying around the place not being used. so my total cost was about 400 Baht. ($12 US) for the wire.

the frame is made from fresh cut bamboo. i chose smaller diameter pieces of bamboo since this is meant to remain light enough to wheel about the yard. i was able to use almost all of it's length by using even the smaller portions for struts and braces. we have a couple of bunches of bamboo growing on our property so i was able to cut my own and strip it for use.

the joints are made with bamboo 'tie wraps', nylon 'tie wraps', nails, wire, or a combination of the above.

in thailand there is a technique for twisting bamboo strips in such a way that they form a nailess join. i am unable to twist the bamboo strips this way. maybe it's a cultural thing. they do to make a secure and near instantaneous bamboo 'tie wrap', but i can't do it, so i make do with a combination of methods.

and i am not very skilled at building things so i am often happy enough if it just holds together regardless of how it was done. this project reflects those attributes. if i thought 'crazy glue' would have worked, i'd have used that.

the blue cover was available for use, but i had wanted to use the thai palm frond roofing. there wasn't any available when i started the project, and aside from being a poor builder i am an impatient builder, so blue plastic roofing it is.

this required 10 meters of small space wire. the wire goes right down to the ground to prevent birds from escaping. whether it lasts long remains to be seen, but it makes for a good prototype.

time will tell if it is worth doing, but i think so.

[LeungKen]

It gets my vote for the "Contraption of the Month" Award.

...and a special mention in the Engineering Section's "Best use of Materials at Hand Approach"

. .

PS By the way, are the Marketing Rights available ?

Edited June 28, 2009 by LeungKen

[loong]

Great stuff

Well done.

[Carib]

You can take it with you to KFC, the pickup window that is..

Nice contraption !

[loong]

And not expensive - built for chicken feed!

[jaideeguy]

Nice work altman......I was the one that posted the links in the hopes that someone would actually do it. Me, I've been procrastinating about it and have the chickens comfortably housed in a permenant coop, so no rush, but you inspire me to get off my lazy but and do it.

You should post your contraption on the city chicken thread.......

What kind of chickens do you have??

[altman]

i will send city chicken an image. they deserve it! a great site for those who haven't been there.

as i was building this many of the locals came over to look. i still am not sure what they think. today we will get another mother and chicks and we'll use this coop for them. we'll see how it goes from there.

what kind of chicken? it squacks, cackles, and clucks.

seriously, i don't know. we had 2, but one ate the eggs so she became new years dinner. the other is brown and tan. the new one i haven't seen yet. papa has some all black birds.

[Pond Life]

Altman, Im impressed.

Im building an Arc/Tractor myself but its going to come in way over 400 B.

Great use of local material.

I would recommend adding some bamboo right around the bottom.

It looks like a dog could push its way under the wire quite easy.

Here's a photo of my unfinished project.

Made out of 3 second hand security screens (250 B each).

Just need to make a little hen house to cover one end.

[jandtaa]

Great stuff fellas

Altman your an inspiration to us all !!

Know what you mean about the bamboo ties, taken me 5 rice harvests to get the knack and bizzarely enough it only works if I don't look at what I'm doing, if I concentrate it just wont twist properly !!

From experience I find that the ties only last one wet season and when I recently built an arbour in the garden to grow a trumpet vine over I used wire for strength but over-wrapped with bamboo for cosmetics.

Any one interested in building an ark using bamboo should check out this thread bamboo

here's a direct link to a PDF on bamboo construction/connection techniques Bamboo connections

cheers for now J

[altman]

Altman, Im impressed.

Im building an Arc/Tractor myself but its going to come in way over 400 B.

Great use of local material.

I would recommend adding some bamboo right around the bottom.

It looks like a dog could push its way under the wire quite easy.

Here's a photo of my unfinished project.

Made out of 3 second hand security screens (250 B each).

Just need to make a little hen house to cover one end.

i thought of the pushing underneath thing, but the chickens around here run free, generally, and i have not heard of any problems with the dogs eating them, so i am assuming they won't bother pushing under. maybe something else will try but i think the wire provides a strong enough resistance to most things. as this is an experimental prototype, time will tell.

i am intensely jealous of your project. you can weld, yes?

[altman]

Great stuff fellas

Altman your an inspiration to us all !!

Know what you mean about the bamboo ties, taken me 5 rice harvests to get the knack and bizzarely enough it only works if I don't look at what I'm doing, if I concentrate it just wont twist properly !!

From experience I find that the ties only last one wet season and when I recently built an arbour in the garden to grow a trumpet vine over I used wire for strength but over-wrapped with bamboo for cosmetics.

Any one interested in building an ark using bamboo should check out this thread bamboo

here's a direct link to a PDF on bamboo construction/connection techniques Bamboo connections

cheers for now J

good to know i am not the only one unable to twist the bamboo wraps. i just don't get it! once in 10 or so efforts i will be able to make one hold together but generally i just end up with frayed bamboo strips. and sore fingers.

for those who don't know what the bamboo tie wraps are.

a strip of bamboo, maybe 1/4 inch wide, 10 inches long, and thin, is moistened and then hand twisted by those who can. it is very cheap, easy, and self locking. around here they are used mostly on bags of seed, fertilizer, etc. but they are good for temporary/long term joining of light weight structures as well. see the above quote for the one year and cosmetic qualities.

you may be able to see some pitiful examples in my photos of the chicken ark.

[BigSnake]

Great idea, great way to spread the Chicken Sh#t around. Right on to whoever came up with this idea, they should Patent It.

[Pond Life]

I can weld, but it turned out the square tubing of the frames was thinner than I expected & beyond my welding skills.

So I just bolted the 3 panels together.

I hope I get round to building the hen house soon, but I found a new job & unfortunatly will be away from Thailand half the time.

[Pond Life]

Finally got the Ark/Tractor finished & 3 chickens installed.

Total cost around 3000 B, Altman wins hands down.

Theres 2 nest boxes inside + a perch,

however I often see all 3 in the same nest & they crap in their nest, which seems odd.

any ideas ?

No eggs yet.