Chicken tractor -- do they HAVE to be locked in the coop at night?

[WoodlandWoman]

Welcome to BYC!

What area of the country do you live in? What's your weather like? If you get any snow or a lot of rain, you might want to think about giving them a little more cover in the run portion, along with a little more living space in the coop area. Maybe just extend the solid roof down a little more.

Other than that, it sounds like you have a good plan!

 

[lceh]

We live in central Virginia (gardening zone 7), so our winters are relatively mild -- a few nights in the upper teens is about as cold as it gets most years.

If we make the coop portion 3 1/2' x 2', and the run 3 1/2' x 7 1/2 ', how many bantams could we manage? I can't really make the entire footprint any bigger than 3 1/2' wide x 9 1/2' long, but I can adjust the coop-to-pen ratio as needed.....

Thanks so much for your help -- we want to have healthy, happy chickies!

 

[coffeelady3]

Quote:
If you have raccoons, I would seriously consider trying to figure out a way to add a lockable door. Tractors are pretty easy to get into.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

large fowl need 4 square feet in side 8 square feet outside per bird!

so I go 1/2 that for my chickens! (the more space you give the better it stops a # of nasty habits) so say 2

3.5' x 2' = 7'
7' divide 2' square feet (you have 3 and a 1/2 chickens so say 4)

Joanne
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2286-Tractor_Buildin

tractor at bottom page
in nicer weather my bantam Rhode Island reds lived here this is 8' long inside coop roost area is 7'

I will put 7/8 in because:
they brooded togther
there is a 7' a roost bar in run plus 7' under that
after 2/3 oclock they free range

 

[lceh]

Okay, how's this: we expand the coop portion to 3' x 3 1/2 ' (10 1/2 sq. ft.); the run portion (including the portion in the shade under the coop) is 9 1/2' x 3 1/2' (33 sq. ft.). Then we could manage 6 bantams, each having 2 sq ft inside and 4 sq ft outside.

A question -- the space under the coop is 14" tall -- is that tall enough for bantams?