Chicken Tractor on a Hill

[llamagirl]

I am a newbie. This is the first day I have been a member.I don't have chickens yet but, I'm starting to build a chicken tractor that will have a run all enclosed with hardware cloth maybe other wire as well. I will only have at most 4 chickens to start with. I have llamas and would like to put the chickens in with them hoping they will help with predators. I know there are foxes around here as well as other predators.
Most of my llama's pasture is on a hillside. Has anyone tried a Chicken tractor on a hillside? Is it doable? What do I need to watch out for? I will probably put wheels on the back of it and would take them off or get the type with brakes.

 

[orchidchick]

I don't have Llamas or a tractor,but did want to give you a warm welcome!

I have seen posts where I think either Home Depot or Lowe's has an auger anchoring system but I think it was used for high wind scenarios, but maybe would apply depending how "hilly" it is where you are.

Orchidchick

 

[llamagirl]

Thank you. I will keep that in mind when I put in on site. Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[first time farmer]

Anything is doable. What i would to is jam some logs behind the wheels and in the front to keep it from rolling. The winch thing in the above post sounds like it would work. But if it were me i woudnt use it because it sounds kinda pricey and i only work part time because of school. I am sure you will find something that works.

 

[llamagirl]

Thanks! I'm opened to any ideas. I'm thinking I will make a predator skirt around the whole thing and probably use the concrete landscape timber to weight the skirt down. I have some I am not using and depending on the type of wheel assembly I will use, these landscape timbers might do the trick.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Lamas are great guard animals. They should take care of a lot of your security issues.

We've used our tractor on a hill. It has wheels on the heavy end, but they retract, when the tractor is in place. It would never roll on it's own, anyway, it's too heavy!

The issues we kept in mind when positioning it were:

Security. We didn't place it where a dip would allow access under an edge. This can also happen on ground that isn't hilly, just uneven.

Roosting. We placed it so the roost would be fairly level, even if the tractor wasn't. This has to do with which way the coop is facing in any one spot. Turn the tractor one way and the roost is fairly level, turn it another way and it's at a sharp angle.

Water. We eventually skipped the gravity fed waterer and went with a bowl of water, when they were old enough. Building the tractor so the waterer can hang also works. Trying to mess with shims is a real pain and if you get it wrong, it empties.

 

[patandchickens]

The important thing is to build your tractor flat to the ground -- use a meat-bird type design or one of the ground-level-only layer tractors, NOT an A-frame or anything with a raised house (for instance, not the type of tractor I have).

It will be extra hard to winterize for a serious-winter climate, so I hope you either live somewhere mild or have a fixed coop for them to live in during the cold months; but as a tractor it will be ok on a slope. (As long as the slope is relatively long and 'flat' and constant... I recommend taking a 2x4 the length of your proposed tractor out onto the slope and making sure there are lotsa places it can sit without excessive gaps under it, before actually building anything)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[llamagirl]

Thanks Woodland Woman for the roost advise. I will build it on a flat surface and try to devise ways to level the roost etc. when it is up on a hill.

 

[llamagirl]

Thank you Patandchickens! Temps here can get down to -10 degrees fareinheit but not to extreme.