- Apr 24, 2010
- 19
- 0
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Hello
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I am also new to chickens and just bought my first 5 2 days ago (4 Golden Buffs and 1 Jersey Giant) for $6 a piece. All of the chickens are about 7 months old.
I've had interest in starting a small flock for about a year now, and have seen a few chicken tractors advertised in Mother Earth News. When a buddy of mine told me that he was going to get a few free chickens, it piqued my interest a bit, and so I did some more research on chicken tractor designs. I wanted to read about pros and cons of known designs, as well as read comments from builders themselves about what they would do differently if they built another chicken tractor.
After about 3 days of studying some things, I drew out some simple plans for what I thought would be a good, workable design. My original objectives were:
- Roomy. I wanted lots of room in the run and plenty of room in the roost. Some of the "Ark" designs are very cramped!
- Fully open-bottom. I didn't want to clean a roost floor all the time!
- Cheap with minimal waste - most dimensions are based on 4' materials, cutting down on waste
With my design and knowlege gained from my research, I approached my buddy. He was about to invest quite a bit of money to build a chicken coop. I explained to him the many benefits of a good chicken tractor, and the cost savings (and time savings) one would provide. That very day, we build our first tractor from my rough design - 100% out of scrap materials that he had laying around in an old shed. The end result was a pretty nice looking tractor, though it weighed in at about 300 lbs! The overall design was good, but it was just too heavy - and through a couple of weeks of practical use, the single door at the front of the run didn't provide enough access to make rasing the chickens and maintaining the chicken tractor as easy as it should be.
Now that I was about to get my own chickens, I wanted to improve on the design. My main objectives this time (on top of the original objectives) were:
- Make the chicken tractor lighter and easier to move! This is what makes it a usable tractor!
- Make access a top priority. I should easily be able to get to any part of the chicken tractor from the outside.
- Find a way to provide a little heat in the colder months
Now, before I show you the pictures of the final product, here is how I met my objectives. After fully built, the new chicken tractor was about 100 lbs. lighter than the first - but still weighed about 200 lbs. I used 2 methods to counter this:
1- Long lifting handles in the front. This gave a lot of leverage and made the front of the chicken tractor very light. The handles are a full 16' forward of the rolling wheels, and the front of the tractor can be fully lifted with only about 20 lbs. of force.
2- I made a raising/lowering system for the wheels to lower the wheels and raise the back end of the chicken tractor easily.
The combination of these 2 things has mad moving this large (200 lbs at 4 ft. wide x 16 ft. long) chicken tractor very easy. My 13 year old son has no problem moving it - this is a pretty good feat for such a large and heavy chicken tractor!
Pros of this design:
-Open floor, even in the roost! I shouldn't have to do much of any messy cleanup!
-Passive solar heater provides free heat in colder months (if the sun is shining of course!)
-I can reach every single area of the tractor from the outside very easily due to it having many many doors!
-Heavy enough to not have to worry about even on the windiest of days
- Everything was painted inside and out and it should last for a very long time!
- It was reasonably cheap to build - less than $200!
- Very strong! Everything was glued and screwed. It does not creak or move in the slightest if I stand on it
- Large. I should easly and comfortably house 6 chickens in here (currently I'm housing 5 and they have a ton of room!)
- Attractive (at least in my opinion!). I think the cable and lever system to raise/lower the wheels is asthetically pleasing (I even painted them a different color to give it more attention)
Cons of this design:
- Could be suspect to predators as I only used chicken wire. I think I would use 1/2" hardware cloth if I were to build another one. Though I don't suspect any predator problems.
- Heavy! (Though, as I stated, I have made it very easy to move)
- Some could perceive it as a bit ugly
- May be more expensive than some simple designs.
Now, for the pictures!
This view shows the overall size of the chicken tractor and how tall (8 ft high) the wheel-lowering lever is (painted red). The run is 8' long x 4' wide. The roost is 4' x 4' and 4' tall at the highest point. The wheels on the lowering mechanism are 8" metal pushmower wheels. There are 3 fairly good sized and covered vents at the top. I will likely add a few smaller vents towards the bottom of the roost. Its not really obvious in this picture, but the roof has full overhangs and is fully flashed to keep it nice and dry inside. If you look close, you will see where the cable runs from the top of the lever system all the way to the front of the tractor. I can then pull on a wooden handle, which raises the back end anywhere from 1" to 4" off the ground. The notches on the front handles will hold the wheels down in various positions depending on where you put the cable handle. It takes about 30 lbs of pulling force to fully raise the rear end of the tractor (not bad considering the tractor weighs around 200 lbs.)
Here again you can see the tall levers in the back of the tractor which lift it off of the ground making it easy to move (despite its heavy weight). There is a small door in the front that you can see that opens and closes.
The front door is 14" x 14" and provides easy access to the front of the tractor. The red handle is connected to a cable and pulley. When pulled, it raises the back of the tractor. You can lock its position behind any of the 4 stops, allowing you to adjust the height of the raise in the back end. The front arms are then used like a wheel-barrow and the tractor is very very easy to move around.
Here you can see that the entire top of the run is also hinged. This has been very helpful, and makes it a breeze to herd the chickens into the roost if I need to. Because its narrow at the top, it seems to keep the birds from wanting to immediately fly out when I open it, and I have used it a lot.
I'm not sure of the technical term for this lever arrangement. I just made it up as I went along and luckily it worked out well. This has been key in making this pretty heavy tractor easy to move. If I could do it again, I would lower the upper arms to give it a bit more leverage, but I am still happy with how it is.
Rear view of the tractor. The access door to the nest box is at the top. There is a big access door to the roost at the bottom. Also, on the roost door is a homemade solar heater (which will be covered in summer months to prevent the roost from overheating)
I build this solar heater out of 2 salvaged pieces of tempered glass from an old refrigerator (you can see the originally white lines on the glass). It pulls cold air in from the bottom of the roost, then the air collects heat from the corrugated aluminum (which has been painted black), then the hot air rises to the op and out vent holes that go back into the roost. In direct sunlight, it really can kick out some heat!
The nest box door opens to the 4 nest boxes in the top-rear of the roost. The roof overhang helps to protect against water getting in.
The lower door shown open with some roosting poles. Notice that the solar heater is mounted directly on the door and tilts out of the way.
Yep, another door! The entire roof is on hinges so I can get in for what ever reason. I will likely use this feature when I try a few roosting pole configurations.
from the side - again, access to all parts of the tracter were of very high priority to me.
I've never had chickens before, so I think I overdid the roosting poles. I wanted them to be able to hop from pole to pole to get into the nest box. After I put the birds in, they fly all the way up anyways, so I will likely simplify this soon.
Locked in the highest position for moving the tractor! It only takes about 30 lbs of pull to rais the rear of the tractor this way.
Here the wheels are locked fully down for easy moving. Once the back is raised, lifting ever so slightly on the handles in the front makes the tractor almost effortless to move.
A broader view of the wheels in the down position. Notice the generous lift in the back of the chicken tractor. When I lift on the front handles and move the tractor, the entire bottom is 3-4 inches off the ground and has worked quite well.
Access door open - the nest boxes are quite accessible!
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I am also new to chickens and just bought my first 5 2 days ago (4 Golden Buffs and 1 Jersey Giant) for $6 a piece. All of the chickens are about 7 months old.
I've had interest in starting a small flock for about a year now, and have seen a few chicken tractors advertised in Mother Earth News. When a buddy of mine told me that he was going to get a few free chickens, it piqued my interest a bit, and so I did some more research on chicken tractor designs. I wanted to read about pros and cons of known designs, as well as read comments from builders themselves about what they would do differently if they built another chicken tractor.
After about 3 days of studying some things, I drew out some simple plans for what I thought would be a good, workable design. My original objectives were:
- Roomy. I wanted lots of room in the run and plenty of room in the roost. Some of the "Ark" designs are very cramped!
- Fully open-bottom. I didn't want to clean a roost floor all the time!
- Cheap with minimal waste - most dimensions are based on 4' materials, cutting down on waste
With my design and knowlege gained from my research, I approached my buddy. He was about to invest quite a bit of money to build a chicken coop. I explained to him the many benefits of a good chicken tractor, and the cost savings (and time savings) one would provide. That very day, we build our first tractor from my rough design - 100% out of scrap materials that he had laying around in an old shed. The end result was a pretty nice looking tractor, though it weighed in at about 300 lbs! The overall design was good, but it was just too heavy - and through a couple of weeks of practical use, the single door at the front of the run didn't provide enough access to make rasing the chickens and maintaining the chicken tractor as easy as it should be.
Now that I was about to get my own chickens, I wanted to improve on the design. My main objectives this time (on top of the original objectives) were:
- Make the chicken tractor lighter and easier to move! This is what makes it a usable tractor!
- Make access a top priority. I should easily be able to get to any part of the chicken tractor from the outside.
- Find a way to provide a little heat in the colder months
Now, before I show you the pictures of the final product, here is how I met my objectives. After fully built, the new chicken tractor was about 100 lbs. lighter than the first - but still weighed about 200 lbs. I used 2 methods to counter this:
1- Long lifting handles in the front. This gave a lot of leverage and made the front of the chicken tractor very light. The handles are a full 16' forward of the rolling wheels, and the front of the tractor can be fully lifted with only about 20 lbs. of force.
2- I made a raising/lowering system for the wheels to lower the wheels and raise the back end of the chicken tractor easily.
The combination of these 2 things has mad moving this large (200 lbs at 4 ft. wide x 16 ft. long) chicken tractor very easy. My 13 year old son has no problem moving it - this is a pretty good feat for such a large and heavy chicken tractor!
Pros of this design:
-Open floor, even in the roost! I shouldn't have to do much of any messy cleanup!
-Passive solar heater provides free heat in colder months (if the sun is shining of course!)
-I can reach every single area of the tractor from the outside very easily due to it having many many doors!
-Heavy enough to not have to worry about even on the windiest of days
- Everything was painted inside and out and it should last for a very long time!
- It was reasonably cheap to build - less than $200!
- Very strong! Everything was glued and screwed. It does not creak or move in the slightest if I stand on it
- Large. I should easly and comfortably house 6 chickens in here (currently I'm housing 5 and they have a ton of room!)
- Attractive (at least in my opinion!). I think the cable and lever system to raise/lower the wheels is asthetically pleasing (I even painted them a different color to give it more attention)
Cons of this design:
- Could be suspect to predators as I only used chicken wire. I think I would use 1/2" hardware cloth if I were to build another one. Though I don't suspect any predator problems.
- Heavy! (Though, as I stated, I have made it very easy to move)
- Some could perceive it as a bit ugly
- May be more expensive than some simple designs.
Now, for the pictures!
This view shows the overall size of the chicken tractor and how tall (8 ft high) the wheel-lowering lever is (painted red). The run is 8' long x 4' wide. The roost is 4' x 4' and 4' tall at the highest point. The wheels on the lowering mechanism are 8" metal pushmower wheels. There are 3 fairly good sized and covered vents at the top. I will likely add a few smaller vents towards the bottom of the roost. Its not really obvious in this picture, but the roof has full overhangs and is fully flashed to keep it nice and dry inside. If you look close, you will see where the cable runs from the top of the lever system all the way to the front of the tractor. I can then pull on a wooden handle, which raises the back end anywhere from 1" to 4" off the ground. The notches on the front handles will hold the wheels down in various positions depending on where you put the cable handle. It takes about 30 lbs of pulling force to fully raise the rear end of the tractor (not bad considering the tractor weighs around 200 lbs.)
Here again you can see the tall levers in the back of the tractor which lift it off of the ground making it easy to move (despite its heavy weight). There is a small door in the front that you can see that opens and closes.
The front door is 14" x 14" and provides easy access to the front of the tractor. The red handle is connected to a cable and pulley. When pulled, it raises the back of the tractor. You can lock its position behind any of the 4 stops, allowing you to adjust the height of the raise in the back end. The front arms are then used like a wheel-barrow and the tractor is very very easy to move around.
Here you can see that the entire top of the run is also hinged. This has been very helpful, and makes it a breeze to herd the chickens into the roost if I need to. Because its narrow at the top, it seems to keep the birds from wanting to immediately fly out when I open it, and I have used it a lot.
I'm not sure of the technical term for this lever arrangement. I just made it up as I went along and luckily it worked out well. This has been key in making this pretty heavy tractor easy to move. If I could do it again, I would lower the upper arms to give it a bit more leverage, but I am still happy with how it is.
Rear view of the tractor. The access door to the nest box is at the top. There is a big access door to the roost at the bottom. Also, on the roost door is a homemade solar heater (which will be covered in summer months to prevent the roost from overheating)
I build this solar heater out of 2 salvaged pieces of tempered glass from an old refrigerator (you can see the originally white lines on the glass). It pulls cold air in from the bottom of the roost, then the air collects heat from the corrugated aluminum (which has been painted black), then the hot air rises to the op and out vent holes that go back into the roost. In direct sunlight, it really can kick out some heat!
The nest box door opens to the 4 nest boxes in the top-rear of the roost. The roof overhang helps to protect against water getting in.
The lower door shown open with some roosting poles. Notice that the solar heater is mounted directly on the door and tilts out of the way.
Yep, another door! The entire roof is on hinges so I can get in for what ever reason. I will likely use this feature when I try a few roosting pole configurations.
from the side - again, access to all parts of the tracter were of very high priority to me.
I've never had chickens before, so I think I overdid the roosting poles. I wanted them to be able to hop from pole to pole to get into the nest box. After I put the birds in, they fly all the way up anyways, so I will likely simplify this soon.
Locked in the highest position for moving the tractor! It only takes about 30 lbs of pull to rais the rear of the tractor this way.
Here the wheels are locked fully down for easy moving. Once the back is raised, lifting ever so slightly on the handles in the front makes the tractor almost effortless to move.
A broader view of the wheels in the down position. Notice the generous lift in the back of the chicken tractor. When I lift on the front handles and move the tractor, the entire bottom is 3-4 inches off the ground and has worked quite well.
Access door open - the nest boxes are quite accessible!
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