Chicken tractor for 12 hens

[nirvanamike06]

Wanting to get back into having chickens. I had about 100 white leghorns at my last house and let them free range. I also had 35 acres so it wasnt a big deal they scratched all the grass up in a large area. My new home is in a pretty fancy area and I'm on a little over an acre with a nice manicured lawn and my neighbors let their dogs run loose. I'd like to keep my yard looking nice and not have a big dead spot so I decided a chicken tractor would be the way to go. I planned on building an 8x16 coop with the coop raised so they can have the full 8x16 floor to forage and then hop into the coop to nest and roost. I thought about building it and putting 4 trailer jacks with wheels on every corner so I could pull it around and they wouldnt ever wipe out a whole area of grass. Anyone ever seen or built anything like that before? I know I'm under the recommended size requirements though. It says 14sq ft of coop and run per hen so that's 168 sq ft and an 8x16 coop and run would only be 128 sq ft. Is this overkill or undersized for 12 hens that will never be able to free range outside the coop? Thanks in advance.

Also we both would like ducks but my girlfriend is convinced they are twice as messy as chickens. I told her I've never noticed a duck to be any messier than a chicken and they dont tear up the grass as bad since they dont scratch. I havent had any ducks since I was a kid though so maybe I just dont remember them being messy. Anybody agree or disagree?

 

[Doublete]

I would say ducks are messy... no input on the tractor lol

 

[DyaSna]

Wanting to get back into having chickens. I had about 100 white leghorns at my last house and let them free range. I also had 35 acres so it wasnt a big deal they scratched all the grass up in a large area. My new home is in a pretty fancy area and I'm on a little over an acre with a nice manicured lawn and my neighbors let their dogs run loose. I'd like to keep my yard looking nice and not have a big dead spot so I decided a chicken tractor would be the way to go. I planned on building an 8x16 coop with the coop raised so they can have the full 8x16 floor to forage and then hop into the coop to nest and roost. I thought about building it and putting 4 trailer jacks with wheels on every corner so I could pull it around and they wouldnt ever wipe out a whole area of grass. Anyone ever seen or built anything like that before? I know I'm under the recommended size requirements though. It says 14sq ft of coop and run per hen so that's 168 sq ft and an 8x16 coop and run would only be 128 sq ft. Is this overkill or undersized for 12 hens that will never be able to free range outside the coop? Thanks in advance.

Also we both would like ducks but my girlfriend is convinced they are twice as messy as chickens. I told her I've never noticed a duck to be any messier than a chicken and they dont tear up the grass as bad since they dont scratch. I havent had any ducks since I was a kid though so maybe I just dont remember them being messy. Anybody agree or disagree?

I am trying to find coop ideas and saw this tread. I don't know about chicken poop, but I grew up with ducks and I am hoping chickens are less than that. Duck poop was everywhere. As a kid we had ducks and geese, I really enjoyed the geese they are great watch dogs but again there is the poop.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Why not just get 9 or 10 chickens? So the tractor would have enough room. Where are you located (what's the climate)?

I don't know much about ducks.

 

[jthornton]

You should put your location in your profile. Trailer jacks would not roll well on grass...

JT