Chicken tractor designs for a very small and simple tractor

[Carter Martin]

Hi all,
I am wondering if anyone has any input into building a very small and simple chicken tractor. I am thinking of one that is big enough for only 2 or maybe 3 chickens. It needs to be as simple and inexpensive as possible. I am thinking of possibly building a good number of them so that I can separate all my roosters, that are being kept for breeding, from each other and from the hens. And then also I could use these pens to breed just one or two hens with a certain rooster. I am thinking of one about 2 & 1/2 feet by 4 or 5 feet.
Thanks
Carter

 

[LadiesAndJane]

We have a 4‘ x 6‘ tractor (3 feet high) that was made out of one by twos to keep the weight down and covered in hardware cloth and also includes a hardware cloth apron that folds up when the tractor is moved. I put my rooster in here when he needs a time out and to give the girls a break. Also use for integrating new birds and for quarantine as well as for chicks. Has multiple purposes.
Currently I have a young cockerel in there that I’ve sold but is just waiting to be picked up by his new owners. He can still see the other birds but has his own space as he has not been integrated into my flock.
I use a large dog kennel for the birds to sleep in and and it’s partially covered by a tarp.

 

[Folly's place]

My only problem with this nice movable run is that the hardware cloth is not secured adequately, given the predators we have here. No raccoons in Hawaii or Ireland? Must be nice! Dogs could be an issue too though.
Otherwise, terrific!
Mary

 

[Carter Martin]

So here is where I got the idea.
Have a look at that link and see what you think. But the coop idea I am thinking about is toward the bottom. There will be a picture.
In my situation I would have to add protection against foxes digging underneath.
When I said tractor I was more referring to the moveability. The picture you will see on the link above is very close to what I want to build.
Thanks

 

[Carter Martin]

It's not something I would care to do myself.

Obviously, it works for the man who wrote the article and it has worked for him over time. But I don't care to ever crowd my birds and even when I have a hen in the broody breaker I give her a perch so she doesn't have to sit in her poop.

The exposure to weather issue is the least of it because a simple tarp on the windward side would serve the purpose -- in a mild climate.

In my climate a bird who couldn't get out of the sun in the summer would be dead.

Ok. Thanks for your input. As far as weather, yeah I live in Ireland so even during the hottest parts of summer it is almost unknown for the temperature to get much if any above 87 degrees F. But even 87 degrees is pretty rare in Ireland. During most of the summer, I would say the hottest parts of the day stay between 70 and 83 degrees F.
The one thing I will say though is that I think the sun is more intense here in Ireland than it is in Pennsylvania where I used to live. With the sun shining on you and with no cloud cover or shade, even if the temperature is only low to mid 70s, it could feel a good bit hotter. But usually as soon as a cloud covers the sun you can feel a difference, the warmth can really decrease, and depending on the day you might feel a little chilly. Pretty much you don't want to risk leaving the house, here in Ireland, without some sort of jumper (jacket) and, very possibly, not without a raincoat either.
There's a few things about Ireland for you.

 

[3KillerBs]

Hi all,
I am wondering if anyone has any input into building a very small and simple chicken tractor. I am thinking of one that is big enough for only 2 or maybe 3 chickens. It needs to be as simple and inexpensive as possible. I am thinking of possibly building a good number of them so that I can separate all my roosters, that are being kept for breeding, from each other and from the hens. And then also I could use these pens to breed just one or two hens with a certain rooster. I am thinking of one about 2 & 1/2 feet by 4 or 5 feet.
Thanks
Carter

By tractor you mean something that would meet all the space needs for the birds? The breeding sets would be confined completely to their tractors and not have individual runs?

If I'm reading that right, 8-12 square feet seems way too small for me.

Each large-fowl bird theoretically needs 4 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet in the run in a normal setup. Open-air type combos where the birds are never closed in the coop alone *can* be OK with less space than 14 square feet per bird, though I'm not sure exactly where the line can be drawn.

I might try 3x6, 18 square feet, and build just one to see how the birds tolerate it.

The way I'd do it would be to build a simple frame from 2x2's at least 4 feet tall (see here why I don't like short coops), cover all the walls with wire, add a roof with some overhang, and tarp 3 of the walls, leaving ventilation under the roof overhang -- like a scaled-down version of my brooder.

Somewhere on the site I've seen mini-hoop-coops made from wire fencing that were used to contain a single rooster, but I don't remember how they kept the weather out.

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry, I was commenting on @LadiesAndJane 's coop.
Mary

 

[LadiesAndJane]

My only problem with this nice movable run is that the hardware cloth is not secured adequately, given the predators we have here. No raccoons in Hawaii or Ireland? Must be nice! Dogs could be an issue too though.
Otherwise, terrific!
Mary

No raccoons, but we have mongoose! They don’t have little hands like the raccoons do.
They can dig under, hence the hardware cloth apron that is tacked down with landscaping staples. Yes I realize it’s not 100% dog proof but we don’t have any dogs going into this part of our yard.

 

[Carter Martin]

@3KillerBs Ok. Do you think this would be a really bad situation?

 

[3KillerBs]

@3KillerBs Ok. Do you think this would be a really bad situation?

It's not something I would care to do myself.

Obviously, it works for the man who wrote the article and it has worked for him over time. But I don't care to ever crowd my birds and even when I have a hen in the broody breaker I give her a perch so she doesn't have to sit in her poop.

The exposure to weather issue is the least of it because a simple tarp on the windward side would serve the purpose -- in a mild climate.

In my climate a bird who couldn't get out of the sun in the summer would be dead.