How He Built This BEAST/ Prairie Chicken Schooner

Ben has done an amazing job building our chicken schooner. Andrea goes through today giving you some ideas of how to make your own. And, we show you how we move the chickens. Our Gallagher pig paddle and our new walkie talkies have helped out a lot when it comes to moving day.
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[@marthaporter3864]

Wow! Y'all are pretty dang smart!! That tractor moved easily! I guess you better keep Ben around!! Lol

[@christiansingle1]

I don't know if someone already told you, but Ben Hollar put pvc pipe on the bottom of his small chicken tractor and it slides beautifully. He sawed a pipe in half. I know there are some pretty big pipes out there. I thought the plastic on the metal would slide better, anyway what y'all did is awsome.

[@heatherk8931]

Yes, he is pretty ingenious and I thought of that today as well for whatever I end up doing for my future chicken tractor. Definitely using his idea.

[@debbiew.7094]

Awesome idea...great job Ben! It was a great video with a lot of information. Great job Andrea I don't think you missed a thing telling us about the new pen! 😊❤😊

[@LadyJ5569]

Absolutely love your chicken tractor for the meat birds. Great job Ben. 👏🙏💞

[@sandracahill8849]

I just love your farm Andrea I want to come and see your farm I live in south Mississippi but I love Arkansas my daughter lived there for 2 years and I think you're doing an awesome job I like the way you put the hangers up in there for the water I think that's a good idea for y'all to put the feed on hangers so that there's not so much what would you say manure and the feeders and we save a lot of work on y'all I think but that's up to y'all God bless I love you Sandra watches every video

[@MsLippy]

Great job Ben, hope y’all have a wonderful weekend

[@chrisryan5339]

Super engineering great job. Cheers. Chris from England.

[@fallenangelwi25]

Y'all are truly moving up in a big way!!! Congratulations I'm proud of y'all

[@cobbleup]

Very well thought out👍👍👍

[@lisabrown5976]

Great idea when you have so many chicks!

[@lanihaufarm-ahawaiianhomes6484]

Awesome job

[@lulamamie8524]

Awesome video! Blessings to you and your family ❤️ The hard work your family puts in now will bless all of you in the future. 🌱🌱🌱🌱

[@tawniafreeman3818]

Amazing job 👍

[@LindaPoorman]

Have you checked in to shade cloth? It provides shade and air flow. You will still need something when it rains, but you have the tarp that can be rolled up until you need it

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Yes and they are pretty pricey.

[@dennisdean3925]

Hey Andrea, thanks for sharing about your schooner. I've been trying to decide about what size and design for a couple of hundred broiler chickens. I'm building a new home on 300 hectres in Ecuador and plan on starting the broiler chicks a few months after construction begins. Your schooner is a little too big since most of my land it very hilly. But you made some great points and suggestions. Dennis

[@cekfraun]

Wow, this is a really thorough video, explaining everything about your new prairie schooner. And I'm glad you showed how it can move at the end of the video. I have seen prairie schooners before, but yours is so huge, I was worried it would pull apart when you moved it. Great job constructing it, Ben!

[@sueashworth560]

You might want to add some wheels. Check out Jason’s Sow the Land. He has one.

[@DjChelan]

Ben your creativity is amazing and all of you work so well together on every project!

[@flyingpigpreserve8562]

Great Idea. Works Great. You might want to think about different feeders. Sow the Land made some out of PVC pipe cut in half and put wooden end. He hung them. He said it cut down on feed waste. The meat birds can't jump up and get into feeders or throw any out in ground. Just a thought. You could hang from the square cross bars and one less thing to have pick up when move. Great idea for that many birds. They have plenty of room. Can't wait to watch the progress. God Bless and Peace Be With You All

[@denisebrady6858]

He what a great video- Great work Ben. I found this so interesting & would love to have just a couple of chickens but maybe one day. Cheers Denise

[@heatherk8931]

Me too

[@helen1962]

Cool!

[@maryloomis8075]

Seems like a very efficient system. Thanks for the video.

[@greggdenike1376]

God Bless U 2!!! Super G,Mahalo from Big Island Hawaii.

[@adelacoburn1396]

This has been a really good video, thank you for sharing. Once again Ben did a fantastic job, actually!.. y'all work well together and do a fantastic job on your farm. God bless...

[@donnalovintexas8760]

Great chicken tractor! I made a 5x10... 3/4" pvc pipe one for 30 chickens with hardware cloth covering it and going down along the ground to help prevent predators from digging. It is a little difficult to move for me. It's not as sturdy moving as I would like. I move it alone and only with my muscle haha. I'm 64 years old so everything is a little harder these days. But its holding up with only about 3 weeks left to go until harvest time. Ya'll Stay Safe and God Bless.

[@kittymorse7402]

Great job Ben.

[@startingover5]

What a great job! I applaud Ben's creativity. Nothing like working towards making things more efficient.

[@heatherk8931]

Great ideas! I always wanted a greenhouse, I think I will go look at Harbor Freight carpet port covers, maybe I can make a greenhouse out of that! Your information in this video was great! Even got me thinking about a little one for layers, I don't think I could process meat birds, but I sure like them😳❣

[@coyroberts8356]

😎 thanks 😊

[@halilbalaban1056]

Hello "VW Family Farm" family. I am your subscriber from Turkey, I am watching you from Turkey. Thank you very much for this very important and informative video. I am grateful to you for presenting us with a video that is truly appropriate and very successful. You explained it clearly, but there is some information that I could not find in the video. *What is the roof height of the schooner in feet? *If the shape of the sledge irons is angular, what are the irons dimensions of the inches? *If the sled irons are round, how many inch are their diameter and wall thickness? *What are the diameter and wall thickness measurements of the spring irons? *What is the diameter and wall thickness of the support pipes connected to the spring pipes from the sides and roof? *How do you hold the bottom part of the nylon together with the wiggly wires and slides? * How and in what way are the sleds held? * How does nylon get in between plastic slides? * How do the wiggling wires hold both the nylon and the slides? * Can you recommend a video where I can see all the stages of this assembly together?

[@bustersmith5569]

NOW THATS A CHICKEN TRACTOR !!!!!! GREAT JOB

[@johnnytyson8645]

Excellent fabrication go ben walkie talkies good idea. Thanks so much. My notifications are not working only home steading channels some idea why not. Good vid god bless yall

[@glenncollins294]

Thanks for the information. God bless

[@maryoesterborg9397]

Check out Holler Homestead idea on bucket feeder for meat birds. It is a great idea and should be easy to obtain the materials It sure would save time on feeding all that flock you have. I really enjoy watching your progress. My grandpa and uncles grew out meat birds when I was a child.

[@apinhmi]

Nice. Thanks for sharing. Question. Do you have wheels at the bottom

[@VWFamilyFarm]

No, it slides on the ground

[@tricountyfamilyfarm8993]

Nice job❤

[@deblavan4190]

Our landlord snd neighbor before we bought our house we’re Mennonites and the used their chicken poop as a fertilizer it smelled bad but was great for their pastures and gardens.

[@jacquelinestravels]

this may have already been asked but how often do you move them in this , i'm thinking of building one , in my smaller chicken tractors i move them twice a day but i'm guessing with something this size you don't have to move them that often .

[@crazymomaterri1208]

Hi, I discovered you guys thru Jeff bobblehead homestead

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Welcome!! Jeff is a great dude!!

[@joannharrison3983]

Could you do a video on the chicken prep before you freeze it or cook it. Do you have to soak it or something.

[@VWFamilyFarm]

We have one out there but I’ll have to look for it. All we do is after we clean it we put it in an ice chest full of ice and let them chill.

[@VWFamilyFarm]

See if this video has the information you are looking for. kzbin.info/aero/PLgwqK7BvcfDkcBaSym93Q5O_SX7h-jjuf

[@candyedwards1131]

Smart n beautiful.

[@Coldlegend214]

what an amazing setup. quick question, so that i dont have to have someone moving the chickens along inside would a cables close to the ground about half a foot from the back nudge them along so they dont ever get to the back while its moving?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Hmm it might!

[@dianadollar6050]

I live in Drasco and don't know where you are located.

[@tomrussell1647]

Would a remote winch hooked onto your or tractor work then just would only take one person to move the chicken tractor or have 2 people in the tractor. Just a thought

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Something like that might work.

[@bigcountryhandle]

What did you use to prevent wind from picking it up?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

We put rebar stakes in all four corners

[@mikemiller5139]

GMRS units need a license but it can be easily got. It will cover the whole family. Just do it then your a legal. Check it out at tgd FFC or URRL.

[@yourmusic6110]

What is the dimensions of the whole Structure that chickens are using

[@VWFamilyFarm]

I’m pretty sure it was 32’ wide and 38’ long.

[@carol67460]

Your the chicken lady

[@andrewhammill6148]

I'd wrap some large bungee chords or something around those feeders while moving the tractor. How many fell when you moved it that we didn't see? LOL

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Amazingly none!

[@karionhawkins3091]

♥️🐓♥️

[@NalamPenu]

What are the dimensions?

[@douglasbaskett2298]

great video .. what is the "Schooner" size

[@VWFamilyFarm]

32x38ft

[@douglasbaskett2298]

@@VWFamilyFarm thank you

[@CynBrown]

Have you thought of raising and breeding the red ranger meat birds? that way you wouldn't have to buy chicks. Or is that just not feasible? I have (edit) haven't seen many people doing that and am curious why. I think your new chicken tractor is GREAT.

[@VWFamilyFarm]

We looked at them and know Kevin at Living Traditions has done some comparison videos on them. I'm not sure what their baby chicks would be as in will they grow like the parents.

[@CynBrown]

@@VWFamilyFarm I have heard they are supposed to but haven't seen anyone do it.

[@estherrogers2229]

Do farmers not raise capons any more?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

I don’t know of any. I personally have never attempted to do castration on a rooster.

[@EspejoFarms]

What are the dimensions of this?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

23’x28’

[@valdirpereira5121]

*HELP OKTOK MORGANA*

[@sandyc6569]

👍💞💖💞👍

[@kalicanterbury8085]

They don't look healthy. Is all that feather loss normal for this breed?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Yes at this age they have very few feathers. Totally normal.

[@AfterTheRains]

That is a massive structure and it looks like there will be a lot of food and water moving to all those chickens.

[@albertod4161]

I'd personally like to raise the American Breese chickens i think the Cornish cross are awesome but for breeding Cornish cross its a challenge i hear with the American breese its more self sustaining yes this particular bird grows a little slower but I heard they taste much better plus I think the American breese chick's look beautiful to look at.

[@halfcenturyfarm607]

❤👍❤

[@Cindysmiths-homesteadlife]

I wished I could get mine now but unfortunately they can not send me mine until October

[@TalkingThreadsMedia]

Wow! -- Moving that gigantic schooner was so SLICK! Thanks for sharing the information with us. Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA -- 4/23/2021

[@Schnick74]

I've been using a Dewalt cordless leaf blower to move my birds ahead when I move my schooner, I found it works way better than a paddle or towel.

[@dongordon6087]

Deepsouthhomesteed,says his black covers high tunnel is cooler than white

[@leebernal6303]

Skid to green house pipe how did you attachments ( bolts) ?

[@jeffbee6090]

that seems to be a great way to raise chickens with all the room they have to roam!

[@francesbolen257]

He needs to weld some wheels that can be raised and lowered to make move easier.

[@johngrambo86]

how many chickens fit inside? Thx

[@mikemiller5139]

Sorry ARRL has more info on the radio license.

[@FeathermanEquipment]

Nice job!

[@bsofar1675]

The extra frame and boards are a great idea. I love it.

[@gelwood99]

Thinking outside the box seems to be Ben's jam! Well done!

[@ohske]

👍👍👍👌❤

[@kikigamble4315]

Hi. Ya'll are so inventive !! Using an 18 wheeler trailer for a brooder, the chick wagon n now this. Creating a project on paper to an actual usable creation. Get Lane to document his resume with building, creativity, the ability to change plans when a build or project doesn't seem to be working BEFORE it is completed. Both Emily n Lane's filming n editing. Planning n executing moving large herds of animals with minimal equipment n personnel at hand. You n Ben are doing such hands on teaching to help them with real life situations n a wide range of experiences. Looking forward to future builds n ya'lls growth of the homestead. Peace to you and yours

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Thank you!! No plans for any more large building projects this year. Welllll I say that and we are rebuilding the farm truck. 😳😬

[@rahulchakravarthy4909]

Great

[@ziauddin7948]

awesome broiler chicken & nice schooner # ❤️ but what happen when heavy rains come ? does this tarp resist water ??? & does water drain out on ground & does not enter in schooner ???

[@VWFamilyFarm]

The water usually drains beside the schooner, not in it

[@yerneedsry]

Why cant you just use your phones?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

We use them some to video. In this video we was using Ben’s to fly the drone.

[@dianadollar6050]

Where is the meat store located?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

It is at our house. We will have an open market again in October. You can always order online and pick up your pre paid items here.

[@robynrhoades7139]

Loved watching this video! Great job you all! 😀

[@nancyinnevada2785]

W O W, THAT IS HUGE! I LOVE YOUR CAMO 😲💟🙏😉🚜

[@vangiefich]

Great job! Thanks for all of the tips!

[@davidj.mackinney6568]

An enjoyable video.

[@kristikey8320]

Cool beans!

[@kristidixon8485]

What do you feed the cornish cross when you get them? What to and when do you change that feed? I have 50 coming in a week. I think chick starter to begin with . Just not certain.

[@VWFamilyFarm]

We have fed ours the same feed from day 1. It’s a non GMO broiler feed we get out of Missouri.

[@XyZ98768]

@@VWFamilyFarm What's the name of the feed company in Missouri?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Hostetler’s

[@jneckcrank]

Great video . Where do you market your chickens? Do you process on the farm?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

Everything will be on our website. We are going to take them to a processor. www.vwfamilyfarm.com/

[@jneckcrank]

So no processing of chickens on the farm ? Does that cost more to do. And reduce profit? Are they USDA processed?

[@VWFamilyFarm]

@@jneckcrank we always have but since we are selling all over the United States and because the amount of birds we went to we are going with a local USDA processor. Yes I definitely cost more so less profit but we have about all we can handle at the moment. Also they offer several more cut options than what we have ever tried to do.