A BYC member on the Meat Bird section wanted to see some of my tractors, so here they are: Hope this helps.
Here is the first tractor that I built with the intent of Day Ranging my egg layers. You can see the 3-place nest box on the back. The roof was originaly flat and it filled up with rain water and sagged. I re-built it with a slope and now it sheds water the best of all of my tractors. You will see in the other ones the roofing material is run length-wise which is less effective at moving water but much easier to build.
You will notice all of my tractors are built with 2x2 frames (2x4s ripped) and angle braced generously. The wheels are attached to short, permanent lenghts of 1/2" all- thread with thumb nuts. If I'm moving them side ways I just pick up each end and place it where I want.
If you look close you can see the Little Giant Auto Waterer in the back. It is piped to a 5gal bucket and operates with gravity.
The next ones were built for isolation and to have a spot for broodies to raise their brood. The piece of siding screwed to the short end is so the little bantams my Maran hatched out can't slip through the mesh.
This is the first one with out a hinged lid. I rarely open the lids anyway so I figured the large door on the end would be sufficient for access. This will be the new standard. I guess by the time I build 20 or 30 of these things, I'll finally get it right.
You can see the pile of pallets therein some of the photos. Some of them were used for siding and some get used for impromptu wind blocks and such. Thery're free and handy to have around.
Thanks for looking.
Mick
Edited to put the correct photo in the correct place, duh.
Here is the first tractor that I built with the intent of Day Ranging my egg layers. You can see the 3-place nest box on the back. The roof was originaly flat and it filled up with rain water and sagged. I re-built it with a slope and now it sheds water the best of all of my tractors. You will see in the other ones the roofing material is run length-wise which is less effective at moving water but much easier to build.
You will notice all of my tractors are built with 2x2 frames (2x4s ripped) and angle braced generously. The wheels are attached to short, permanent lenghts of 1/2" all- thread with thumb nuts. If I'm moving them side ways I just pick up each end and place it where I want.
If you look close you can see the Little Giant Auto Waterer in the back. It is piped to a 5gal bucket and operates with gravity.
The next ones were built for isolation and to have a spot for broodies to raise their brood. The piece of siding screwed to the short end is so the little bantams my Maran hatched out can't slip through the mesh.
This is the first one with out a hinged lid. I rarely open the lids anyway so I figured the large door on the end would be sufficient for access. This will be the new standard. I guess by the time I build 20 or 30 of these things, I'll finally get it right.
You can see the pile of pallets therein some of the photos. Some of them were used for siding and some get used for impromptu wind blocks and such. Thery're free and handy to have around.
Thanks for looking.
Mick
Edited to put the correct photo in the correct place, duh.
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