Chicken Tractor questions

[aart]

Chicken tractors can be made predator proof for night time protection.
Think about building coop on a trailer frame for mobility and security without worrying as much about uneven terrain.
The portable electrified poultry netting shown above can be a good choice for day time protection from ground predators.

Layers and meat birds are best kept separate, IMO, meat birds will only be living for 8 weeks.

 

[OzarkF&G]

I'd second Aarts recommendation on the trailer frame. If you look at the classifieds regularly, you can usually find an old enclosed trailer for cheap that has rotted floor boards or just in general is beat up, but usable for your purposes.

Catawba coops would be my other rec. I built one this fall for some bantam porcelains the wife bought and it is working beautifully. It's 20$ plan on the website or free with kindle unlimited. i Built it for just under 220. I plan to make 2-3 more but bump the size by 2' on each side so I get more space all round. I have a trio of bantams in mine, but I have seen people with 5-6 full size in there... If you free range and just use the tractor for night purposes then you could likely get away with the 4-5 full size.

I'm in Missouri, same temps as you roughly and same predators. I remove predators as I see them, and have yet to lose a chicken through my chicken wire walls or to winter temps in a tractor.

The trailer build would probably be your best bet with an electric poultry net for day ranging. Good fences make good neighbors...