Chicken Tractor Plans

[49erfan]

I am planning on getting some chickens early this spring. It will be the first chickens I've ever raised. My plan is to build a Chicken Tractor to house up to maybe a dozen chickens initially and rotate a half a dozen at a time through an as yet undetermined cycle. I have an idea of how the exterior will look, and the measurements come out to be 5'3" wide by 17'6" long. By my calculations, I can house about 24 chickens at a time with this size. I'm thinking of using metal studs to keep the weight down. I'd like to have opinions on whether this plan makes sense before I take the plunge. Any questions or observations would be welcome.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.
If they will have about 4 sq feet each in the tractor and you plan to let them free range it should be fine.
If you won't be letting them out you might want more room.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. This link may be interesting - Space requirements

Here are some helpful links:

• Great go-to resource - Articles
• Insightful feedback on how members manage their flocks - Topic of the Week back-catalogue

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Hi and welcome to BYC! We had/have chicken tractors. Are these for meat birds too? We found that meat birds do fine in the tractirs, as they don’t require much...umm, well, they don’t get around well for long. You might not want to make your tractor that long...just saying from experience...they get heavy, and hard to move. Don’t forget you need to put some sort of shade on the top if they are to be confined in the.tractors all the time..and we used tin...it was great for the shade...but added weight. You might be better off making two tractors that are half the length...because, they get to be a pain to move...and with chickens...they need moved a lot..since they poop a lot.... But, I think it’s a great way to get started with chickens..andit will give you a feel for their needs. Welcome to BYC from all of us. We love pictures so, we would love to see the tractors in the process of the builds. And, of course, once you get the chickens!

 

[49erfan]

Welcome to BYC.
If they will have about 4 sq feet each in the tractor and you plan to let them free range it should be fine.
If you won't be letting them out you might want more room.

Thanks for the reply. I do plan on letting them be fenced free range (if that is the right term)-planning on having at least 50 sq'/bird yard space.

 

[49erfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC! We had/have chicken tractors. Are these for meat birds too? We found that meat birds do fine in the tractirs, as they don’t require much...umm, well, they don’t get around well for long. You might not want to make your tractor that long...just saying from experience...they get heavy, and hard to move. Don’t forget you need to put some sort of shade on the top if they are to be confined in the.tractors all the time..and we used tin...it was great for the shade...but added weight. You might be better off making two tractors that are half the length...because, they get to be a pain to move...and with chickens...they need moved a lot..since they poop a lot.... But, I think it’s a great way to get started with chickens..andit will give you a feel for their needs. Welcome to BYC from all of us. We love pictures so, we would love to see the tractors in the process of the builds. And, of course, once you get the chickens!

Thanks so much for your reply and advice. Planning on mostly meat birds at this time. Don't want to have tons of eggs. I have plenty of yard space so my idea is to move the tractor back and forth and rototill area vacated from the birds so I can plant a garden in the well-fertilized area. BTW, the reason for the length is that I am planning on making it look like a miniature of my house and the square footage will hold about two dozen birds. I'll keep in mind the Tractor build pictures, Thanks.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Thanks so much for your reply and advice. Planning on mostly meat birds at this time. Don't want to have tons of eggs. I have plenty of yard space so my idea is to move the tractor back and forth and rototill area vacated from the birds so I can plant a garden in the well-fertilized area. BTW, the reason for the length is that I am planning on making it look like a miniature of my house and the square footage will hold about two dozen birds. I'll keep in mind the Tractor build pictures, Thanks.

Sounds very cool that it will look like your house! If you definitely want it that long, I recommend going with big tires at the one side then. By our third tracto, we realized to not make the top side that you open, the heavy part. We used hardware cloth held down with 2”x4” s for the opening. It made a flap, to open and put in new water and feed. But, with that many birds, I also suggest you have two waterers and two feeders...they won’t get around great after a bit...and, it is tight space.... chickens poop makes great fertilizer!!

 

[paintedChix]

Have you looked at the John Suscovich style tractors? They may work wonders for you. You don't necessarily need a "regular tractor" if you are raising meat birds... The normal type meat birds may have a difficult time negotiating a ramp up to a coop

What state are you in?

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Have you looked at the John Suscovich style tractors? They may work wonders for you. You don't necessarily need a "regular tractor" if you are raising meat birds... The normal type meat birds may have a difficult time negotiating a ramp up to a coop

What state are you in?

Oh, yeah...ours were on flat ground...I believe that’s the purpose of a tractor...I could be wrong...but then they eat new grass every day...and the wheels on one side make it easy to roll where you are going