Hardware Cloth For Meat Chicken Tractor Floor?

[Coralietg]

Is this a bad idea?

We use a wooden slat system in our main coop, but obviously the chickens are roosting on it and not sleeping on it. Would hardware cloth be very uncomfortable for them to sleep on?

My husband is out building the tractor, and he said he would prefer doing the hardware cloth floor for their sleeping area.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[dadtochickenfan]

I did this for a tractor I built. Bear in mind I tried to cover the whole tractor floor with mesh wire. Two lessons I learned were:
1. Ensure the mesh size is large enough to allow the chicken poop to fall through. I used quarter inch and it was as good as a solid floor and didnt serve its purpose.
2. Make sure the floor is high enough from the ground so that growing grass won't interfere. Mine was low too the ground. So when the grass was really growing in the Spring, it would get intertwined with the mesh, making the tractor a hassle to move.

I make cages for my daughter's rabbits, and I like to use a heavy gauge wire as the thicker wire doesn't hurt their paws as much as thinner wire. I don't know if this applies to poultry, but I figure it can't hurt to go heavy.

 

[dadtochickenfan]

I meant "too low to the ground". Someday me learn talk pretty.

 

[Coralietg]

Thanks! We used 1/2" hardware cloth. I'm sure it will still clog up some, but I was more worried about it being uncomfortable for them.

 

[blucoondawg]

Forgive my ignorance on the issue, but what is the sense in using the tractor method if you are putting a wire floor in it? In my mind the whole idea of a tractor is to have a form of predator protection while still being able to move the birds around on pasture, I would think the hardware cloth in most any size will simply smash down the grass and seriously inhibit the bird's ability to forage any meaningful amount would it not? The only benefit I see to doing this sort of tractor is leaving droppings behind when moving the tractor rather than having to clean out a coop.

 

[dadtochickenfan]

The benefit you mentioned is sort of what I was trying to do. We typically grow out our meatbirds before we plant of vegetable garden, then again after its tilled under. I thought I would try having the meaties fertilize the garden for us. The hardware cloth allowed them to do that, but kept them our of the wet muck that seems to happen those times of year around here.

 

[bugflipper]

With 1/2" if it is up in the air the majority of manure will drop through.Occasionally a spot will build up where they roost and the water hose will take care of that. If on the ground it will just accumulate on the wire. It will also keep the majority of the grass laid on it's side where the birds can't feed on it. With a bottom a better design for me has been to place wooden skids under it like a snow sled. It can be pulled easily and keeps highly susceptible game birds away from disease. All of the pens I have set up like that stay in the garden for the winter. In the summer the chicken tractors are between the rows and the skid pens are up on legs with metal roofing under them to catch the manure.

 

[CedarFarms]

Interesting idea.. following... sounds like a lot of work keeping it clean though.

 

[Coralietg]

I should've been clearer. Hardware cloth for the floor of the sleeping area.Most of the meat chicken tractors I saw online looked like the chickens were just sleeping on the grass. We have lots of fire ants around here, so I wanted a separate area for them to sleep.