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Local farmer creates solar-powered, self-driving chicken trailer
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SUNSET, La. (KLFY) -- One man has found a way to make his farming experience easier by inventing a tool he says was created to keep his chickens safe.
Local farmer Mark Guidry came up with the idea to create a solar-powered, self-driving chicken trailer.
"We raised birds for about seven or eight years. and one of the the biggest difficulty was the predators," Guidry said.
Guidry and his family own and operate Guidry Organic Farms. He says one of the issues he kept running into was loosing his chickens to predators. His solution: create a solar-powered, self-driving chicken trailer to keep them safe.
"We wanted to keep them on fresh pasture, to keep them away for them from their manure. So multiple times a day, there's a timer within the trailer, it activates a mechanism that moves it. So they move multiple times and they get fresh pasture," he said.
Guidry said the trailer moves about 30 feet at a time to allow chickens access to fresh pasture. Before creating the new tool, Guidry said the chicken trailer was hooked up to a tractor in order to move it.
"...backing it up, hooking it up, moving it takes time and energy This way it just moves. Moves by itself multiple times a day," he said.
His daughter, Rebecca, said her dad creating his own chicken trailer is something she'd expect him to do.
"Sounds just like my dad to create something to solve a problem in a creative way," she said.
Guidry said it took about a year to put together the device with the help of his friends and engineers that contributed to the design.
He said they aren't planning on manufacturing the device, at least not at this time.
In addition to chickens, Guidry Organic Farms has cattle and pecans.
Guidry's wife, Connie, said she's happy that their family can provide locally sourced products from their farm and partner with small local businesses, like Diana Ray's.
When it comes to the farm's future, Guidry said he'd love to expand the farm. He is currently building an eight and a half acre pond that will hold 14 million gallons of water. The pond will be used to help with the farm's irrigation.
To build the pond, Guidry said he is working with local pond developer Cory Patin with Earth Moving Solutions.