50 Chickens in an 8ftX10ft tractor?

[bigredfeather]

Mine is 6'x10'x2'. Picture has 33 birds that are 6 weeks old at time of picture. I think I could have put a few more in without crowding.

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The back door. Makes feeding and removal much easier.

 

[Peruvian]

50 meaties in a 80sq ft tractor is 1.6 sq. ft. per bird. This is over 3x what the industry requires. Not sayin' it's right but it's a hell of a lot better!!

 

[UncleHoot]

"Comfortable" is subjective. If you raise Cornish Crosses to 8 weeks, 50 will seem a bit crowed for the last 2 weeks, but many (if not most) pastured broilers are raised at that same density of about 1.6 square feet per chicken. I have 75 in a 10x12 tractor right now (1.6 sqft/bird), and it's getting crowded at 8 weeks, but they only have 3 more days left. 2/3 of the tractor is covered with tarp, and they all fit under the tarp with some room to spare.

In "Pastured Poultry Profit$" (the pastured broiler bible, to some), Joel discusses trying up to 100 or so, and as few as 50, in a 10x12 tractor, and found that 75 yielded the best results.

However, if it's "chicken happiness" that you're truly after, keeping the densities lower might make them happier as they approach market weight, but 1.6 sqft/bird is still substantially more than the birds get in broiler industry.

 

[Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil]

Awsome information on this thread espically for a newbie like me. I feel so prepared!
I'm ready!
I can do it!
I'm going to order 100 meaties right now!

....nnnnaaaaaaaawwwww
I may feel knowledgeable but I'm not dumb. I think I will start out with 10.

So those of you that do large numbers, do you do them only in the spring/summer and then put the tractors away for the winter?

 

[UncleHoot]

Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil :

Awsome information on this thread espically for a newbie like me. I feel so prepared!
I'm ready!
I can do it!
I'm going to order 100 meaties right now!

....nnnnaaaaaaaawwwww
I may feel knowledgeable but I'm not dumb. I think I will start out with 10.

So those of you that do large numbers, do you do them only in the spring/summer and then put the tractors away for the winter?

You can do it!

For the last 2 winters, I have left my tractors out all winter. I have one tractor in its 3rd year of use, but it was converted into my layers "summer coop". But mine are made of PVC and tarp, and the tarp only lasts one summer and gets thrown out in the fall. Some day, I hope to put together a "How-to" on building those. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

The chicken coop becomes the brooder in the spring, and back into a chicken coop in the fall. All summer long, I have my layers in a moveable pen, and then I let them out to free range in the evenings. I don't raise meat birds over the winter (from October to March) simply because they would be too much maintenance without being on a pasture. Plus, the layers move back into the coop in November, so I really don't have room for them.

A friend of mine gets her chickens in early March, though, and keeps them on straw in the barn with heatlamps. They normally get about 25. That works well for them, but obviously they're not pastured.​

 

[Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil]

Its not the raising them part as to why I want to start small, its the butchering them part. I don't know how well thats going to go!

 

[willheveland]

Quote:
Those are some large tractors, are they difficult to move? Do you move them by yourself or do you have to recruit help?

Thanks!
-Kim

I can move them alone,but help is nice.The small one I can slide on grass,bigger one has wheels with handles in the front.Smaller one has handles that go all the way through. Will

 

[Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil]

Quote:
Very nice!

 

[jaku]

Here's my 10x10 PVC tractor. It worked GREAT for 53 birds. You can find the plans at www.pvcplans.com

 

[Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil]

Quote:
Oh wow! Thanks so much for the link!! I've been wanting to do PVC cold frames and row covers and havn't had time to draw them out. This is great! I like the idea of the coop from pvc too.

Do you have to anchor it down or is it heavy enough by itself?

Are you able to take it apart for storage when your done for the season?