Chicken Tractor Thread!!

[CB78]

This thread is dedicated to chicken tractors. Post pictures of you chicken tractor and how you work your chicken tractor to share with others. Enjoy!

 

[aart]

 

[AntRob]

Here's my first attempt. Turned out quite a bit heavier than I'd imagined but all in all it works pretty well and keeps the ladies happy.

My future plans for wheels I borrowed from here.

 

[ShanandGem]

I have five of these. Perfect for up to four birds. I would love to just let them free range but 10 feet past that tree line are 3,867 things that like to kill chickens.

 

[ShanandGem]

Tie a string to the bottom of your ramp and run it through a hole at the top of the front of the tractor. Attach a metal washer and when it's tractor movin' time pull on the string and hang it on a screw mounted about 12" away. That way the ramp is out of the way when you drag the tractor.

 

[ShanandGem]

These are really nice... Thanks for the pics and tips. I am thinking of making my Tractor a permanent coop... It's just too heavy to keep moving every couple of days.

I move mine twice a day in a far from flat yard. Once you get the 'spin and drag' maneuver down it's pretty easy. Unless you get hung up on a big bunch of bunchgrass.

 

[chick-a- doodle]

I have 4 tractors, and I run them in the pasture. You can probably manage your tractor in the area you described, but, it will take some doing on your part, and cooperation from Mother Nature. First, though, you have to decide if you enjoy moving the tractor every 2-3 days. With 4 tractors, it can be a hassle, and I often wonder if I should go with a stationary coop and run! I imagine when that day comes, I will do raised and covered beds throughout a very large run and a coop to accommodate 20 chickens. The plant beds will give greens without the chickens digging up the ground, making it bare. And, a stationary coop and run will give the security I need against the predators common to my area. [Free ranging is not an option!] Until I decide to go with a stationary coop and run, the tractors are working fine with our ability being that we can move them and still willing to do that task. So, this is only my opinion, and experience in running tractors in a small area over the winter in TN. I don't know what area you are from, but, my winter experience last year in moving a tractor (I only had one last winter) covers about the same area you described. Our first winter, I ran the tractor in my yard, which was primarily bermuda and blue grass. This held up very well during the winter and recovered nicely, even in the winter, and looked great in the summer. Only problem is moles, which, has nothing to do with the chickens! I moved them every 2-3 days in the winter, and if it was extremely wet, I might move them after 1 day so they wouldn't have to stand in the mud they would create if I left them longer! The following spring, I sowed orchard grass in a larger area surrounding my house, that pastured cattle all winter. I vowed not to run the chickens in my yard again. I sowed this in February and March. After a good spring, I moved the chickens into the pasture, where there is also a little red clover. [I had some white clover in the yard...I dislike because it is so aggressive, but, I think it is good chicken fodder!] Anyway, this winter, I have been running the chickens on the orchard grass pasture that I sowed in the spring. It was a very dry fall, so, it did not stay as green as my yard, but, the base is still good for chicken tractors. I have, as I said earlier, expanded to 4 tractors and more chickens since the first winter! Finally....the key, beside sowing good perennial grass, is moving them every 2-3 days, or sooner if they are hard on an area, or if there is a lot of rain. Check with the state extension office in your state and see what grasses are perennial for your area, if you want to sow "as you go". When I move the tractors, I sprinkle orchard grass seed in the area that was used. By the time the tractors get back around to it, there is fresh grass growing in that spot. I use a shaker that is a recycled oregano leave spice bottle. It has big holes and the seeds come out at just the right amount. [I am awful at broadcasting by hand, so, the shaker gives me better control at not over-seeding.] Sorry for the long post.

Here is a picture of my favorite and most functional designed chicken tractor. Since the "line of four tractors in the pasture" were made, I have sold all but the A-frame. A stationary hen house and run were built, and I now have one flock, not four! I kept the A-frame as a grow-out pen or sick bay.

 

[Poultry parent]

this takes 2 people to carry it but it works well

 

[CB78]

this takes 2 people to carry it but it works well

I like how to the birds have an area for shade and another area for sunlight. Is that blue tub a nesting box?

 

[Poultry parent]

at their age no, when they are full grown it would, it was there for wind protection. the ducks in there are big now