Pastured Poultry Cages
Pastured poultry cage with lids open for feeding and cleaning water dishes. Breeds are Red and Bronze Rangers. Cages are moved daily to provide fresh forage for the chickens, keep their area clean for avoiding diseases, and to distribute manure that provides nutrients for pasture growth. A dolly with a wedge (next photo) is placed under the rear, the front is picked up by a handle (seen above center front of cage) and the cage moved forward a cage length. Only one person is needed to move the cage.
The dolly slips under the back of the cage and the wooden wedge is put in to hold the dolly tipped back so the bottom of the cage is a few inches off the ground. A person does not have to be with the dolly when the cage is moved.
Inside view of cage and hanging waterers that automatically refill as water is drunk by the birds. Regular garden dripline is used to connect waterers to water source buckets (below). Hanging waterers are time savers as they don't have to be placed in and out of the cage when it's being moved, and are a lot easier to clean. Two separate watering systems are critical to provide backup in case of clogs.
4-gallon water buckets on top of the cage provide a constant water for waterers. A hole is cut in a regular bucket, a barrel bung and valve inserted, then regular garden dripline runs to the waterers. Other sized buckets can be used as well as other plumbing. A valve makes the bucket removable without losing all the water. We move an irrigation wheeline over the cages on occasion and the buckets have to be removed then.
Feeders made out of roof gutters suspended from the cage "rafters" so they don't have to be placed in and of the cage each time it's moved. Feeders are made of a 3ft length of guttering with 2 gutter endcaps. A spinning PVC roll bar to prevent chickens from perching on the food dish is made by suspending a metal rod across the top and placing a slightly shorter length of PVC on the rod. Height of the feeders is adjustable with hooks on the chains so it can be raised as the chickens grow.
Having chickens that have been raised with a lot of human attention from first arrival from the hatchery is important. Friendly chickens are very pleasant to work with and stress less when handling is necessary. We introduce chicks to greenery (finely chopped pasture clover and grass) in the brooder so they know what it is when they get in the field. Associating a chicken call when feeding chicks the much-liked greens gets them to learn to move forward with the cage faster when they are first moved from the brooder to the movable pasture cages.