(Actually, I'm using this tractor to house two ducks, but it could easily be used for chickens)
I'm sorry, I don't know how to post pictures. But I'll try to describe it so you can "see" how it is built.
I began with a collapsable wire dog cage that I bought for 70 bux at Tractor Supply. (Lowe's sells this same dog cage at about the same price.) Here's a link that shows you the dog cage that I bought:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-ca...pet-crate-23-in-w-x-36-in-l-x-25-in-h-2401464
This crate comes with a plastic floor and some wiring underneath to hold the floor in place. But I wanted my ducks to be able to walk on the grass and eat bugs and stuff, so I don't use the sheet of plastic as a floor, and as for the wiring down bottom, I just took wire cutters and carefully cut that wire "flooring" out. That left me with a cage that had no bottom.
Now, an easy to use Quackmobile (my term for the duck tractor) needs to be easy to lift and roll -- even with the birds still in it. And I don't want to have to pick their food and water trays up every time I want to move the thing either. That would get pretty old very quickly.
So I took two wheels off of an old lawn mower that quit working a few years back. Then I got the appropriate metal pieces from Lowe's that allowed me to screw the wheels onto the end of the cage that is furthest from the cage's door.
After I attached two wheels to one end of the cage, I took a 10 foot piece of 2 x 4 lumber and cut it in half. I took plastic wire ties to tie a 5 foot long piece of the lumber to the left, upper side of the cage; and I hooked the other 5 foot long piece of lumber to the right side of the cage. The cage is 3 feet long, which means that the two pieces of lumber extend 2 feet beyond the edge of the cage. That is, of course, about the same length that you find the handles of wheelbarrows to be. And, in fact, once I attach those two pieces of lumber to either side of the cage, the Quackmobile picks up and moves very similar to a wheelbarrow.
Ducks need plenty of water, and they need more food than just the grass and bugs that they find on the ground each day as I move them around the yard. But at the same time, I'm not wanting to have to open up the Quackmobile and physically move their food and water dishes every time I move them. That would get old very quickly.
So I went back to Tractor Supply and bought two aluminum bowls that easily screw on to the cage itself:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-ca...-trade-stainless-steel-pet-bowl-2-qt--2450609
I placed one of these at both corners of the cage on the end that was near the wheels and away from the door. They screw on quite easily, and I adjusted the height of the bowls so that they were just the right height for my ducks.
I fill both of these to the brim with water immediately after moving the birds, because I am bound to spill some of their water in the moving process, and besides, they spill most of their water out of the bowls before I even try to move them. Ducks are just messy drinkers. But I don't have to open the cage to do it -- I just use 20 ounce plastic soft drink bottles, filled with water, to fill the bowls. The bottle opening fits right nicely between the bars of the cage, so that it is easy as pie to fill their water bowls.
I also want their duck food trough to move with the tractor too. So I built the trough myself out of some plastic house gutter material I had from when I put gutters on my house. I bought the two end pieces at Lowe's, cut the gutter tube the right size for the cage, and then fitted and glued the end pieces. That gives the ducks a perfect sized, perfect length, feeding trough that I screw into place at exactly the right height for the ducks to eat. I can drop crumble feed into the trough pretty easy as well from the top of the cage -- there's no need to bother opening the cage door.
In this hot and sunny weather, the ducks need shade. So I just take that plastic floor that came with the cage and plop it on top of the cage, so it provides needed shade to the birds. If it is really hot and sunny, I may place a larger piece of plywood on top of that, so that they have even protection above them blocking the sun. Of course, THAT sun blocking material does have to be pulled off before I move the tractor. I suppose I could just take some dark colored plastic sheeting or something, drill holes in it, then tie it with wire tires to the wire on top of the cage to make a roof that I did not have to take off every time I went to moving the Quackmobile. But I haven't done that yet.
Most of the time, I can't afford to let my ducks free range since I have an extensive organic garden that they can tear up. But every so often, I go outside to watch them play, and with me supervising them, I can allow them to go out side of the cage. When I want to let them out, I just open the door to the cage. Very easy to do.
That's it -- an easy to build Quackmobile, perfect accommodations for two ducks. Since I already had the two wheels and the gutter tubing on hand before I started this project, I spent about $120 or so when it was all said and done. But it was really easy to build. The only hard part was attaching the wheels, but even that wasn't too hard once I bought the right parts to do it with.
If I were going to keep chickens in it, I'd get a wooden dowel or the sawed off end of an old broom handle and stick it between the bars at the appropriate height and location to provide the chickens with a roost.
But since I have ducks in there, I haven't put a roost in there.
I'm sorry, I don't know how to post pictures. But I'll try to describe it so you can "see" how it is built.
I began with a collapsable wire dog cage that I bought for 70 bux at Tractor Supply. (Lowe's sells this same dog cage at about the same price.) Here's a link that shows you the dog cage that I bought:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-ca...pet-crate-23-in-w-x-36-in-l-x-25-in-h-2401464
This crate comes with a plastic floor and some wiring underneath to hold the floor in place. But I wanted my ducks to be able to walk on the grass and eat bugs and stuff, so I don't use the sheet of plastic as a floor, and as for the wiring down bottom, I just took wire cutters and carefully cut that wire "flooring" out. That left me with a cage that had no bottom.
Now, an easy to use Quackmobile (my term for the duck tractor) needs to be easy to lift and roll -- even with the birds still in it. And I don't want to have to pick their food and water trays up every time I want to move the thing either. That would get pretty old very quickly.
So I took two wheels off of an old lawn mower that quit working a few years back. Then I got the appropriate metal pieces from Lowe's that allowed me to screw the wheels onto the end of the cage that is furthest from the cage's door.
After I attached two wheels to one end of the cage, I took a 10 foot piece of 2 x 4 lumber and cut it in half. I took plastic wire ties to tie a 5 foot long piece of the lumber to the left, upper side of the cage; and I hooked the other 5 foot long piece of lumber to the right side of the cage. The cage is 3 feet long, which means that the two pieces of lumber extend 2 feet beyond the edge of the cage. That is, of course, about the same length that you find the handles of wheelbarrows to be. And, in fact, once I attach those two pieces of lumber to either side of the cage, the Quackmobile picks up and moves very similar to a wheelbarrow.
Ducks need plenty of water, and they need more food than just the grass and bugs that they find on the ground each day as I move them around the yard. But at the same time, I'm not wanting to have to open up the Quackmobile and physically move their food and water dishes every time I move them. That would get old very quickly.
So I went back to Tractor Supply and bought two aluminum bowls that easily screw on to the cage itself:
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-ca...-trade-stainless-steel-pet-bowl-2-qt--2450609
I placed one of these at both corners of the cage on the end that was near the wheels and away from the door. They screw on quite easily, and I adjusted the height of the bowls so that they were just the right height for my ducks.
I fill both of these to the brim with water immediately after moving the birds, because I am bound to spill some of their water in the moving process, and besides, they spill most of their water out of the bowls before I even try to move them. Ducks are just messy drinkers. But I don't have to open the cage to do it -- I just use 20 ounce plastic soft drink bottles, filled with water, to fill the bowls. The bottle opening fits right nicely between the bars of the cage, so that it is easy as pie to fill their water bowls.
I also want their duck food trough to move with the tractor too. So I built the trough myself out of some plastic house gutter material I had from when I put gutters on my house. I bought the two end pieces at Lowe's, cut the gutter tube the right size for the cage, and then fitted and glued the end pieces. That gives the ducks a perfect sized, perfect length, feeding trough that I screw into place at exactly the right height for the ducks to eat. I can drop crumble feed into the trough pretty easy as well from the top of the cage -- there's no need to bother opening the cage door.
In this hot and sunny weather, the ducks need shade. So I just take that plastic floor that came with the cage and plop it on top of the cage, so it provides needed shade to the birds. If it is really hot and sunny, I may place a larger piece of plywood on top of that, so that they have even protection above them blocking the sun. Of course, THAT sun blocking material does have to be pulled off before I move the tractor. I suppose I could just take some dark colored plastic sheeting or something, drill holes in it, then tie it with wire tires to the wire on top of the cage to make a roof that I did not have to take off every time I went to moving the Quackmobile. But I haven't done that yet.
Most of the time, I can't afford to let my ducks free range since I have an extensive organic garden that they can tear up. But every so often, I go outside to watch them play, and with me supervising them, I can allow them to go out side of the cage. When I want to let them out, I just open the door to the cage. Very easy to do.
That's it -- an easy to build Quackmobile, perfect accommodations for two ducks. Since I already had the two wheels and the gutter tubing on hand before I started this project, I spent about $120 or so when it was all said and done. But it was really easy to build. The only hard part was attaching the wheels, but even that wasn't too hard once I bought the right parts to do it with.
If I were going to keep chickens in it, I'd get a wooden dowel or the sawed off end of an old broom handle and stick it between the bars at the appropriate height and location to provide the chickens with a roost.
But since I have ducks in there, I haven't put a roost in there.
