Is my tractor too small for 8 chickens

[jeepguy982001]

you'll get tons of different answers on this if its good strong wire yes it could work. and i wouldn't bury wire that deep i'd make an apron. think of like an L shape buried just under the ground. so when something starts digging all they hit is wire.

lol i type faster then i think. the bottom of the L would be buried the side of the L would be your fence.

 

[jeepguy982001]

The top of the roof is at chest height. Why do you thing I should raise it up? To make it easier to clean out? Sorry about all the questions. But your giving me great advice. I want to take advantage of your experience.

i like mine since its raised when i clean it out the bottom of the door is about level with my pull behind wagon when i clean it. and if its raised the underneath would be your run so you wouldn't have to build a separate one. plus gives the birds a good place to stay dry or play in when the grounds covered in snow.

 

[mollybuck]

you dont necessarily have to raise it up... you could enclose what you have.. leave the little run part under the current coop and have access door under so you can put feed and water and it is covered? and maybe use that part of the coop above just for the nesting boxes..

if you are going to make this a permanent structure, I wouldnt raise it up.. rather put a run off one of the longer sides and then you could have a door and ramp like you have. mine is 4 X 14 and i have 16 in there. but 3 are silkies so they are quite a bit smaller than a LF.

 

[mollybuck]

i like mine since its raised when i clean it out the bottom of the door is about level with my pull behind wagon when i clean it. and if its raised the underneath would be your run so you wouldn't have to build a separate one. plus gives the birds a good place to stay dry or play in when the grounds covered in snow.

well.. you could just extend the coop at the same level and leave the underneath as part of the run.. it would be a good place to escape the weather..

 

[jeepguy982001]

well.. you could just extend the coop at the same level and leave the underneath as part of the run.. it would be a good place to escape the weather..

actually i like that idea better and would save money on material. why didn't i think of it

lol

 

[mlrod1914]

Thanks everyone!!

I love your ideas.

1. I'm going to extend the coop at the same height the entire length.

2. Make one huge door on the side for clean out.

3. Create an apron instead of deep burying the fence

4. Fix the coop in a set location.

Great ideas! I feel much better about the entire venture. I was getting really stressed.

We have 8 little chicks in the brooder waiting to move into their new home.

I thought I was done until I did further research on this site. I'm confident I can finish this in the next two weeks. That will be plenty early for the chicks. They are 2 weeks old, so they still have a little wait until they can go out. (in the 50's here at night).

Thanks again!

-Mike

 

[jeepguy982001]

glad we could all help. and be sure to post some pics when ya get finished.

 

[mlrod1914]

I certainly will!
I'll post some pics in a few days. I plan on doing some major work on it after work today. I'll put the pics on this thread.

 

[jeepguy982001]

sweet i subscribed looking forward to them.

 

[mlrod1914]

Updates to The Chicken Tractor turned coop.

Here is a pic of the modifications I have made so far. I am still working on it.



I have enclosed the entire coop down to the bottom. I am also going to build a large run off the back of it. I left the small coop part as a "room", but I added the rest of the former run as a large roosting area. The egg box off the back has a hinged lid and contains 2 nests. The side of the large roost area has two large panels with hinges for access.