Looking for your turkey tractor...

[DVTO2]

I'd like like to see what people are doing for their turkey tractor.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

mine might agree to pull the tractor for you, but you sure as heck couldn't get them in one!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I don't have photos of the one that my turkeys are actually in, but this one is the same design.

The differences between the chicken and turkey tractors is that the turkey model has the roosts farther apart to accommodate larger birds and the nest box is larger in dimension to make it more comfortable for the hens. Everything else is the same. I have a tom and six White Midget hens in mine and it's moved every day. I'd build it with wheels if I were to do it over again. Just enough clearance to make it easier to pull.

 

[DVTO2]

Nice! Does the hardware cloth cover the whole tractor? What are the dimensions?

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Yes, the entire tractor. I've seen some that only went up two to three feet and the rest was just the tarp over the cattle panels, but I wanted complete coon protection.

The dimensions are thus:

Two sixteen foot cattle panels.
Two 10ft 4x4s
Two 10ft 2x4s

The cattle panels are as I recall 50.5 inches in height so side by side like that in hoops they should be approximately 101 in width. Cut the two 2x4s to nine feet in length and attach to the 4x4s leaving just enough room to fit the cattle panels in. At that width I can stand up inside with an inch or so to spare. The rest follows from that. For the framing on the ends I used treated 1x4s. This is how I attached them to the panels.

That's 14 gauge electric fence wire. It wasn't my neatest job, but it gets the idea across.

 

[DVTO2]

A.T.: What's the ballpark cost on the cattle panels? It seems like an easy way to build a coop.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The last time I bought cattle panels they were twenty dollars apiece. Call it about two, maybe three years ago now. I bought twelve so as to not have to buy any more for a long while.

The real problem with the panels is getting them home since they are sixteen feet long. I had to have them delivered which incurred an additional fee which is why I bought so many at one time.

 

[DVTO2]

A.T.: How do you do your roosts?

 

[NotAFarm]

A.T. Hagan :

The last time I bought cattle panels they were twenty dollars apiece. Call it about two, maybe three years ago now. I bought twelve so as to not have to buy any more for a long while.

The real problem with the panels is getting them home since they are sixteen feet long. I had to have them delivered which incurred an additional fee which is why I bought so many at one time.

We have a pickup with an 8 foot bed and put the panels in and bend them like they will be on the tractor. You put one end by the cab with the other end hanging over the tailgate. Push the other end into the bed and let the tailgate hold it. Bungy or tie with rope/cord/strap the two ends into the bed. I have taken two at-a-time three different times or projects. If you don't have an 8 foot bed on a pickup, try getting a friend with a trailer to help. The Tractor Supplys around here have the panels on sale each summer for $20 for the cattle panels that A.T. uses, they also have other panels for various prices that have smaller (4x4) openings and heights. Check their website for what is available and then call your local store to see if they stock it or can get smaller quantities in for you.

A.T.-great pics and detail on attaching the cross pieces to the panels.​

 

[vtgirls]

Here is our turkey tractor. Right now it is hitched up to a chicken coop to give the turkeys a little more roaming room. The tractor is made from 2 4 foot x16 foot cattle panels. They were 35$ per panel from a dairy supply place and we attached them with 2x4's salvaged from big pallets. Wrapped them in chicken wire and for winter have a tarp to keep out snow. For roosts they have one 2x4 and another made from an old tree limb (wasnt there yet in this picture). I keep the food and water in the hoop house. If there is a wind or deep freeze they will sleep upstairs in the hay in the coop, otherwise they roost in the hoop at night. They are not laying yet but could make use of the nesting box in the coop. As it is right now it is light enough for me to move alone. This spring we will move the hoop and add on to it a few more panels for the new turkeys due in April - it will no longer be a "tractor" but more of a semi-permanent housing for them all with an additional run attached. In the hoop they have about 80 square feet (its 8x10). In the coop they have 35 more square feet each level - both below and above.
I am very happy with how the hoop is working - we got over a foot of snow just yesterday and the ground is clear inside and the weight of the snow is clearly not compromising the structure.