Chicken tractor designs- advice appreciated!

[SusanME]

Hi! We're new to chickens (we have a dozen ten-day-old Rhode Island Reds in a kiddie pool brooder). The kids (10 & 13) and I are trying to plan for a chicken tractor or two and a coop. We'll probably start by building a chicken tractor this week, working our way up to the coop. I have good basic woodworking skills and a pretty good range of tools.
I'm thinking about a very simple a-frame style chicken tractor that we could put a tarp or some scrap roofing over one end of in case of rain. Our neighborhood is full of predators... one of my friends actually saw the neighborhood fox running down the road with a chicken in its mouth! We also have eagles and the occasional bear. So I'm planning an overbuilt coop with hardware cloth covering any openings, though I haven't actually picked out a plan yet.

We're starting out with 12 layers, and will probably get chicks again in a couple of years to offset the slowdown in egg production that will probably be happening by then. We don't plan to cull the older layers, as the kids (and, frankly, I) will be pretty attached to them then. So we'll need room in the coop for probably closer to 20 chickens (I'd rather not have to rebuild in a couple of years, so I'll plan to make it big enough to begin with). We'll want some kind of covered run, but in warmer weather, I'll be trying to keep them in chicken tractors to help with opening up/fertilizing more garden.

Any chicken tractor advice is appreciated- especially any thoughts on a-frame styles!

 

[swamphiker]

A couple questions/thoughts:
-Do you plan on keeping the chickens in the run 24/7 or will they be allowed to free range part of the time? If they are confined to the run it is recommended to allow at least 10 sq. ft. per chicken.
- A-frame chicken tractors are usually for smaller flocks. I'm having a hard time imagining how you would easily move one big enough for that many chickens.
-If you want your chickens to be mobile to fertilize your property, you could build an A-frame chicken tractor that is just the coop and then have a run that is really just a big fenced in area. You could have netting over the top to prevent aerial predators.

Best of luck with your new flock!

 

[SusanME]

A couple questions/thoughts:
-Do you plan on keeping the chickens in the run 24/7 or will they be allowed to free range part of the time? If they are confined to the run it is recommended to allow at least 10 sq. ft. per chicken.

I honestly don't dare let them free range- we have a huge yard, but our house is right on the road, and between the road and the fox, I worry they would be toast .

- A-frame chicken tractors are usually for smaller flocks. I'm having a hard time imagining how you would easily move one big enough for that many chickens.

I was kind of thinking about building more than one, and splitting them up between several tractors. I don't know if that's likely to cause social problems? I don't know if chickens freak out if the flock gets divided during the day.

-If you want your chickens to be mobile to fertilize your property, you could build an A-frame chicken tractor that is just the coop and then have a run that is really just a big fenced in area. You could have netting over the top to prevent aerial predators.

Best of luck with your new flock!

Thank you! You've raised some good questions. I wonder if I should think harder about this design- I forget the name of the guy who has popularized it- my kid's best buddy who is a young chicken farmer thought it was a good idea. It looks something like this...

 

[swamphiker]

I think that style could work if you are able to build it big enough to suit the number of chickens you would like to have and connect it securely to a coop. A large chicken tractor like this will only work well if you have very level ground. Some other things to keep in mind for predator-proofing:
-Make sure you use hardware cloth rather than poultry wire. Raccoons and dogs in particular will be able to get through poultry wire easily.
-You'll also want to make sure you have a way of keeping out digging predators. My chicken tractor has a "skirt" made out of hardware cloth that lays flat along the ground for about a foot. Folks with static coops will bury wire or build on top of concrete.

 

[SusanME]

We do have pretty level ground- But I'll walk it with the tractor in mind before I decide on a plan.
I will definitely use hardware cloth. I like the idea of a skirt along the ground, too.
What kind of tractor do you have, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[swamphiker]

I don't mind at all! This is my set-up for 5 hens. In the time since this photo was taken we switched out the wheels for pneumatic tires that are much easier to roll on our sandy ground, added some shade cloth over the top half of the run, and added a skirt around the bottom. It's about 9' x 5.5' and our chickens usually get a couple of hours/day to roam free in the yard. So far it is working well, though in hindsight I should have made the coop a bit bigger.

 

[Patchworkacres2020]

Here’s our tractor. We just got it to be able to love the chickens around in other parts of the yard. It’s 6’x12’ they don’t stay in it. Right now we’re using it for the 4 week old chicks to get outside in. The wheels are removable & it’s super easy to move around.

 

[SusanME]

I don't mind at all! This is my set-up for 5 hens. In the time since this photo was taken we switched out the wheels for pneumatic tires that are much easier to roll on our sandy ground, added some shade cloth over the top half of the run, and added a skirt around the bottom. It's about 9' x 5.5' and our chickens usually get a couple of hours/day to roam free in the yard. So far it is working well, though in hindsight I should have made the coop a bit bigger.
View attachment 2121562

Nice design! That looks a lot like what I've thought about, but it obviously wouldn't be big enough for 12...

 

[CreveChris]

Hi! We're new to chickens (we have a dozen ten-day-old Rhode Island Reds in a kiddie pool brooder). The kids (10 & 13) and I are trying to plan for a chicken tractor or two and a coop. We'll probably start by building a chicken tractor this week, working our way up to the coop. I have good basic woodworking skills and a pretty good range of tools.
I'm thinking about a very simple a-frame style chicken tractor that we could put a tarp or some scrap roofing over one end of in case of rain. Our neighborhood is full of predators... one of my friends actually saw the neighborhood fox running down the road with a chicken in its mouth! We also have eagles and the occasional bear. So I'm planning an overbuilt coop with hardware cloth covering any openings, though I haven't actually picked out a plan yet.

We're starting out with 12 layers, and will probably get chicks again in a couple of years to offset the slowdown in egg production that will probably be happening by then. We don't plan to cull the older layers, as the kids (and, frankly, I) will be pretty attached to them then. So we'll need room in the coop for probably closer to 20 chickens (I'd rather not have to rebuild in a couple of years, so I'll plan to make it big enough to begin with). We'll want some kind of covered run, but in warmer weather, I'll be trying to keep them in chicken tractors to help with opening up/fertilizing more garden.

Any chicken tractor advice is appreciated- especially any thoughts on a-frame styles!

Just picked up my chicken tractor from Urban Chicken Tractors out of Sarasota. There are several sizes and extended pasture runs available.

My Crèvecœur flock will include at most 6 layers. This is perfect to move a few feet every day and requires almost no bedding (just a bit in the nesting box and I'll be using preform fiber nests).

The poop ends up on the grass due to the open rafter coop style. Ira, the creator, says his son was complaining of cleaning under the roost, so he created an open style. The chickens have a soft landing on thick grass popping up through the chicken wire floor.