Has anyone used the A Frame Chicken Tractor plans from Green Willow Homestead?

[crailly71]

Welcome to BYC. from the NC Sandhills.




As a fellow resident of the Steamy Southeast, here's an article for you: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/



The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

BUT, here in the Steamy Southeast, I find that it usually takes either DEEP shade or a minimum of double to triple the suggested minimum ventilation to keep the coop under 100F on a 90F day.

One of the problems with A-frame designs is that they're dreadfully-hard to ventilate -- if you make them rain-proof by extending the roof down to the ground then there's no airflow. And if you're going to put them in the sun you don't have a coop, you have a rotisserie.

The best coop design for a hot climate is an Open Air style -- essentially a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at one end. This one, a hoop tractor version, is a good design: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-tractor.69336/ I myself would make it possible to roll up the tarps on the sides and leave a vent at the top of the back as well because airFLOW is key.

The plans you're looking at are too small for your proposed flock.

6 hens

• 24 square feet in the coop. 4'x6' is the only really practical build for this given the common dimensions of lumber. If you can't walk into it, put the access door in the middle of the long side to make sure you can reach all areas of the coop because a stubborn chicken WILL press itself into/lay an egg in the back corner where you can't reach.
• 6 feet of roost
• 60 square feet in the run. 6'x10' or 8'x8'.
• 6 square feet of ventilation.
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice

You see that, at 6x10, it's only big enough to be the run for 6 birds, not the coop and run together.

It's also wasting space by having too many nests -- one of my rules of thumb is that a coop design with too many nests shows that the designer didn't know much about chickens' actual needs and thus it probably has other flaws too.

Why do you want a tractor specifically? Do you have photos of the yard where you plan to keep them?

Thanks so much for your help. We are definitely looking for a different design after reading the comments. When we had chickens in the Midwest we tried a stationary coop with a yard that turned to a muddy mess and the coop was hard to keep clean. When we tried to let them free range to get to some fresh grass and bugs and to get out of the mud/dirt yard, then predators got them at different times, everything from hawks, to a fox, raccoons, and lastly our neighbors dogs. Then later we designed and built this Chicken Tractor and we lost zero hens! We moved it every 5-7 days. It was predator proof and easy to grab eggs and to clean/care for. We even designed it with a feed shoot and automatic waterer with Chicken Nipples so that on busy days we just had to check to collect eggs and make sure they had enough food and water instead of filling them every day. (This was especially helpful when we went out of town and had others take care of our pets/chickens). However, this was a big, heavy tractor with a detachable run, which we had to use our John Deere Gator to move. We loved being able to move them around our yard so they could forage and peck and this also avoided the muddy yard problem we had. We did put them in the old coop area in the winter as we had periods of heavy snow/sleet/ice and many more days of freezing weather than we do here near Charlotte, NC. When we sold our house they asked for this chicken tractor to be included with the home. Overall we loved our Chicken Tractor more than the stationary coop and also feel that moving it around helped confuse predators. We did add nesting boxes which we could access from the outside, but I can't currently find pics of that to share.

 

[Austrianbumb]

I have 6 chickens (mixed breed flock) in the medium tractor … plenty of ventilation, easy to move by myself (no tractor needed) …

 

[crailly71]

I have 6 chickens (mixed breed flock) in the medium tractor … plenty of ventilation, easy to move by myself (no tractor needed) …

Thank you! What area do you live? Do you feel they get overheated?

 

[addctd2plnts]

I'm in steamy Missouri and as far as ducks, will lose more in the heat than the cold. We use a converted predator proof stall in the barn and I had to install an agricultural fan and keep it going all night during the summer, or we lose birds. Our barn is at the top of a marvelous hill and gets outstanding ventilation. I think it is the combination of the heat and the humidity that really wears on the poultry. I can't even imagine closing them inside a small box in the summer. Something like a Wood's Open Air Coop would be perfect, if you were looking for drawings. there's threads on BYC with photos and drawings of them.

 

[Austrianbumb]

Thank you! What area do you live? Do you feel they get overheated?

I live in SE TN. No they don’t get over heated but then we haven’t hit the height of summer yet lol but I have enough trees to wheel them under there during hot days.
I follow a few people on Instagram who live in TN and use the tractor without any issues

 

[3KillerBs]

That was a WONDERFUL tractor design -- with great airflow. One of the few really practical tractors I've ever seen.

Maybe you could lighten up the build with less "built for the ages" framing? It looks like you used a 2x6 bottom frame with 2x4 upper framing and heavy plywood?

Maybe a 2x4 bottom frame with a 2x2 upper frame fully enclosed in 1/2" hardware cloth with metal roofing with a generous overhang for extra shade and metal sides that leave a 6-8" gap at the top of the shelter wall(s)?

One of the issues here in NC is that our storm winds can come from any point on the compass. You can see how I turned the back of Neuchickenstein to the most usual winter wind. What it doesn't show is that I ziptied a tarp to the roost-side of the downhill wall as a winter windbreak.

You can see that here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/open-air-coop-in-the-snow.1508695/

You could make a better version of my brooder (converted from a run I was given), with improved bracing, a slanted roof that would allow heat to flow out the top, and at least one open wall. It's built from 2x2 and, though we'd have made it sturdier if we'd built it, it hasn't come apart yet. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/ (It doesn't have wheels, but can be carried by 3-4 persons depending on the size of the persons.

 

[MadGardener]

I would also put the wheels in the middle instead of the end so it'll roll easier.

Totally! All the weight in front of yhe wheels you have to lift. Closer to the middle makes an incredible difference.

 

[crailly71]

That was a WONDERFUL tractor design -- with great airflow. One of the few really practical tractors I've ever seen.

Maybe you could lighten up the build with less "built for the ages" framing? It looks like you used a 2x6 bottom frame with 2x4 upper framing and heavy plywood?

Maybe a 2x4 bottom frame with a 2x2 upper frame fully enclosed in 1/2" hardware cloth with metal roofing with a generous overhang for extra shade and metal sides that leave a 6-8" gap at the top of the shelter wall(s)?

One of the issues here in NC is that our storm winds can come from any point on the compass. You can see how I turned the back of Neuchickenstein to the most usual winter wind. What it doesn't show is that I ziptied a tarp to the roost-side of the downhill wall as a winter windbreak.

You can see that here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/open-air-coop-in-the-snow.1508695/

You could make a better version of my brooder (converted from a run I was given), with improved bracing, a slanted roof that would allow heat to flow out the top, and at least one open wall. It's built from 2x2 and, though we'd have made it sturdier if we'd built it, it hasn't come apart yet. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/ (It doesn't have wheels, but can be carried by 3-4 persons depending on the size of the persons.

Thanks so much! These are some great ideas....Maybe instead of purchasing a design we will adjust our old Chicken Tractor design ideas into something lighter weight and somewhat smaller since we only currently have 4 chicks...I'd just like to have the option to expand later but that's not as important right now. Maybe it could be more open air like your brooder, but still have some stronger wood or wheels on the bottom to make moving it easier most of the year and then add in some plywood or tarps during winter only and not move it during the few cold snaps we have here.

Or maybe use and modify the Green Willow plans by using less metal and more hardware cloth, depending on what hubby is up for. If we did this option we would probably also just do 2 nesting boxes to give them more space in the coop as someone suggested above.

I appreciate everyone's great input!

 

[Austrianbumb]

Totally! All the weight in front of yhe wheels you have to lift. Closer to the middle makes an incredible difference.

The tractor in the original post has 4 wheels (each corner). - definitely no issue moving this (by yourself)

 

[MadGardener]

The tractor in the original post has 4 wheels (each corner). - definitely no issue moving this (by yourself)

My tiny screen failed me!