House baby chicks in a chicken Tractor?

[starchicky]

Hey all,

I am planning on getting some more chicks soon. I was thinking I wanted to make a simple chicken Tractor that could also be used to house the growing chicks and help them acclimate to the outside. I was thinking a simple A-Frame or hoop style tractor.

My question is what considerations would you include so that baby chicks could also be housed in it? I was thinking the covered roost area could have a heat lamp, and to have it be up off the ground a bit to keep is warmer.

Please let me know of any ideas, designs or concerns! I would like it to still be big enough for 1-2 adult chickens to also use as a tractor or a separate enclosure if a bird gets sick or something. Thanks!

 

[centrarchid]

I use an A-frame unit, one end covered by plywood and other by hardware cloth. It is heavy. Water, feed and cover from elements under plywood side. I also make so chicks retreat to box under plywood for night to keep them away from sides. Chicks along sides are strong motivator for predators. I also move unit frequently to keep over ffresh grass. I like mow grass very tightly before moving tractor over it to minimize dew / rain saturating chick down.


Orientation is important. When moving unit my preference is to have chicks out running about and they go back in after move complete.

 

[starchicky]

This is what I ended up with. It worked great for juvenile chickens, but now that I have baby chicks I realize it's much too high to use for them yet. Now I wish I had made it all the way to the ground....we'll see how it goes this year