Looking for tractor ideas

[chickenmomma16]

Im on the hunt for chicken tractor ideas. Here is the criteria:

• Movable by me. A 5ft 2in woman
• PREDATOR PROOF! We have coyotes, raccoons, and opossum that run through almost daily. Not to even mention the eagles, vultures, and hawks and small critters
• Low profile or at least aesthetically pleasing (our landlord lives up the street, just want to keep things nice and clean!)
• Can house 10 birds (preferably a bachelor pad for young cockerel brothers in the fall winter and breeding pens in the spring summer)
• Easy to clean roosting area
• Easy to make.

Is this doable?

Dimension suggestions?

I can move them as often as necessary.

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

Have you looked into the the chickshaw? Theres a man on YouTube named justin Rhodes and he built it. He has a large one that houses 40 chickens and a smaller one that houses 15. I built the large one. I'm a 5'6" woman and build it by myself with very little experience and can move it very easily. His houses egg layers. And he puts nesting boxes on the back. But if you are not wanting to house layers you could just not put the boxes on. If you wanted different sections for "breeding pens" you could just put a wall in the inside to divide it up. I just love mine so much because theres been no cleaning. Everything falls through the bottom. I move mine every 3 days.

 

[chickenmomma16]

Have you looked into the the chickshaw? Theres a man on YouTube named justin Rhodes and he built it. He has a large one that houses 40 chickens and a smaller one that houses 15. I built the large one. I'm a 5'6" woman and build it by myself with very little experience and can move it very easily. His houses egg layers. And he puts nesting boxes on the back. But if you are not wanting to house layers you could just not put the boxes on. If you wanted different sections for "breeding pens" you could just put a wall in the inside to divide it up. I just love mine so much because theres been no cleaning. Everything falls through the bottom. I move mine every 3 days.

I’ve never heard of him. I’ll definitely look ok him up! Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

I’ve never heard of him. I’ll definitely look ok him up! Thanks for the suggestion!

The plans for the larger ones are available to print off below in the description of this video. It's so nice he has a cut list and everything.

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

Heres the smaller one plans video

 

[Ridgerunner]

Movable by me. A 5ft 2in woman

PREDATOR PROOF! We have coyotes, raccoons, and opossum that run through almost daily. Not to even mention the eagles, vultures, and hawks and small critters

Low profile or at least aesthetically pleasing (our landlord lives up the street, just want to keep things nice and clean!)

Look under the "Articles" tab at the top of this page for ideas. Large diameter wide wheels make it a lot easier to move, especially on soft wet ground. On uneven ground it can be challenging to keep out digging predators without using a system that makes it really hard to move. Maybe hinged aprons that can be raised when moving and then lowered when in place.

Can house 10 birds (preferably a bachelor pad for young cockerel brothers in the fall winter and breeding pens in the spring summer)

I can move them as often as necessary

Dimension suggestions?

Challenging. But being able to move them a lot helps but this may turn out to be a lot more often than you anticipate. What happens if you need to leave town for a few days for a funeral or wedding? Who moves it if you are sick? That's the kind of thing that caused me to stop using a tractor.

Tractors are not good for winter but should work for your uses.

If you move it often you do not need the usually square feet space often quoted on this forum. I don't have a hard size number for you as there are different factors involved. These factors don't lend themselves to a numerical solution anyway. I found that the more it rained the more often I had to move it. It started stinking pretty quickly.

You might consider building it in two sections that can be moved separately but hooked together in place. I used long bolts, eye bolts, fender washers, and butterfly nuts to make something that was quick to connect. No photos unfortunately.

Easy to clean roosting area

Don't put a floor under the roosts. Let them poop straight onto the ground. You clean by relocating the tractor. The tractor needs to be predator proof so you don't have to lock them up at night in a coop section.

Easy to make.

You don't ask easy questions. I suggest you look at hoop coops. Consider using PVC pipe to bend and cover with wire mesh to save weight. The wheels and aprons are probably the biggest challenge. But certainly consider that video. It doesn't look bad.

Is this doable?

Probably, but you may find you have to work hard at relocating it often for it to work well. That may be more trouble than it is worth.