chicken pot Pie
Project undertaken in course year 2018-2019 with Pie Ranch Organic Farm
Project Goal
Develop an enclosure that keeps poultry in a specified area, keeps predators out, and can be easily moved in order to reduce labor time
Project Motivation
Raising poultry this way is more humane compared to conventional factory farming methods and results in chickens that are healthier and fields that are naturally fertilized.
Background
Pasture-raised poultry must be moved across a field so that they have new plants to graze on and deposit manure across a distributed area.
Pie ranch does not move its pastured chickens because moving the current poultry fencing is too labor and time intensive
Chickens and coop on pasture at Pie Ranch
High Priority Requirements
Area of three square feet per chicken
At least eight feet tall and electrified to 4000 volts
Enclosure can be moved in under 30 minutes by one person
Costs less than $3000
Ethical Considerations
Worker safety
Animal safety
Solution
We have developed an enclosure system consisting of poultry fencing stretched between two parallel chicken coops. The weights in the elevator shafts maintain tension in the top line of the fence as the length varies during coop movement. The tractor operator can then advance each coop in under 15 minutes to move the enclosure to a new section of land.
System view
Final design that has fencing spanning between the coops. Each coop is towed one at a time, moving the fence
Coops moving
View from the top, shows position of the coops as they are being moved, and how the cable length needs to increase
Chicken Coops
These coops are where the chickens reside. Due to their size, they need to be towed
Fence support structure
The fence is an electrified net hanging from the cable system. Tension is maintained in the cable by hanging weights at either end. This ensures the net is adequately suspended while the coops are being moved
Model of Frame
CAD model of the weight and shaft attached to the coop frame
Weight system
Hardware connecting weights to the cable
Stress analysis
FEA of wood structure to ensure it could withstand loads from weights
Weight in hardware
Weight suspended in the shaft connected to the chicken coop (weight is low)
Weight in hardware when moved
Weight suspended in the shaft connected to the chicken coop, when one coop moved, weight is raised
Cable Test Setup
Test setup to measure deflection (droop) of cable vs tension. Distance between the red lines denote the deflection of the cable
Other testing conducted
Stress analysis on connection hardware
Cost analysis
System towed by tractor in 20 minutes
Student team
Future Work
Safety - add flags to denote extension limits of the fence and structures in the shaft to constrain weight movement
Poultry Protection - develop electrification of fencing system and add weights to the bottom of the fence to reduce swaying during windy conditions