Minimum height for chicken tractor

[Krugerrand]

So, my grand vision (plan A) was originally to make something bigger:
- hold 6 hens
- easy build / low cost
- easy dismantle/reassemble
- fit in bed of full size pickup (dismantled)
- have (at least some) resale value after using it for a month or so

While I still like the plans I have in my head ... to save costs and speed things along, I down sized my vision (plan B)
- hold 4 hens
- easy build / low cost
- easy dismantle/reassemble
- fit in bed of full size pickup (dismantled)
- have (at least some) resale value after using it for a month or so

Well, then I figured it probably makes the most practical sense to build closer to what I need at the moment (Plan C)
- hold 2 hens
- easy build / low cost
- fit in minivan
- have (at least some) resale value after using it for a month or so OR be useful enough for me to just keep around

Sadly Plan C came crashing down when I went from mental planning to reasonably-close-to-scale drawings. Something in my list was going to have to give way.

Then, on Friday, two of my three hens apparently got spooked and were behaving unwell ... and my overreacting nature had me convinced they had avian flu. So, my mind wasn't in a good place for 'adding to the flock' (They were fine the next morning have have been fine since.)

So ... first off, thank you to everybody who wrote recently to this thread, as it has me ready to get back to the drawing board.

 

[Krugerrand]

For the birds you name, I would make the low part at least 2 feet high.
If you want to include a rooster roost, I would probably put it 2 feet up, with at least 1 foot of space between the roost and the top (bantams) or maybe 2 feet (sexlinks.)

Personally, I would not bother with having two different heights. I would just arch the whole thing, and probably aim for 3 feet high in the middle.

That's where I was leaning (not two heights) for the smallest version of what I had in mind. But, getting in and out was going to be a problem - at least without sacrificing at least something on my wish list.

 

[Krugerrand]

Tractor supply also sells a 60" x 16' panel that has 4-inch squares. I used some recently to make porch railing. It will cut in half to make 28" high lengths (sacrificing on 4" section of the grid) if you want to use it for the flat direction. It also arches very nicely. If you use a full panel, it will make an 80-inch tall arch. You could arch some conduit to hold the tarps off the interior wire, too.

I also prefer bolt cutters...my 24" cutters are much faster than a cut-off wheel, though the cut is smoother with a wheel.

Cutting the panels for (some or all of) the flat sections is exactly what I'm thinking. But, it really only makes sense with the bigger versions.

I think my next plan is to try a reasonably-close-to-scale drawing for a 4-hen tractor.

 

[DavidReaves]

Cutting the panels for (some or all of) the flat sections is exactly what I'm thinking. But, it really only makes sense with the bigger versions.

I think my next plan is to try a reasonably-close-to-scale drawing for a 4-hen tractor.

Cut the 5-foot panel in half lengthwise, then in half across the 28 inch width, then use a solid panel for the top. That gives you a low section 28"x5'x8' (Edit: Actually it would be 7'8". You lose one square when you cut the panel in half.) Then arch a 16-foot panel up to 7 feet tall, and five feet wide. Use one more panel, cut in half, to cover the sides of the arch... the 28" section where the side connected to the short run could be used for the front of the run. That gives you 13' x 5 feet or 65 sf of ground space. That's 40 sf in the shorter run, then 25' sf in the arch. That works out perfectly for 4 hens even with the nest boxes inside the coop.

If I did the math right, that's 3 panels for the entire tractor.

 

[DavidReaves]

I did a couple of quick pencil sketches to show more clearly what I mean above. Each square of the graph paper represents 4 inches. There's a side view showing the low section and the arch, then a front view, where you can see the front panel, and the cross-section of the arch. There is a 2"x 4" frame around the bottom. (I did the math a long time ago on the various heights of the arch-- I've seen the graph I did used elsewhere here on BYC). You would still need to add some sort of frame on the back side for a door, and you could have a wooden frame for the side walls as well. You cold simply wire the panels together, or use hog rings. I hope this helps.

 

[Krugerrand]

I did a couple of quick pencil sketches to show more clearly what I mean above. Each square of the graph paper represents 4 inches. There's a side view showing the low section and the arch, then a front view, where you can see the front panel, and the cross-section of the arch. There is a 2"x 4" frame around the bottom. (I did the math a long time ago on the various heights of the arch-- I've seen the graph I did used elsewhere here on BYC). You would still need to add some sort of frame on the back side for a door, and you could have a wooden frame for the side walls as well. You cold simply wire the panels together, or use hog rings. I hope this helps.

View attachment 3092282View attachment 3092283

You've sketched out pretty much what I'm envisioning. I was thinking of cutting the short length down to 7'6" so that I could use 12' boards on the base.

I had found some different arch height tables online. What I didn't yet find is something can give me the height for set widths if I cut the panel shorter. But I'll play with that when i have a chance to get some panels.

The other thing is figuring out ventilation. My plan is to bring the ends in some under the arch so that they do not need to reach all the way to the top. One option is to angle the end pieces inward. That would allow better rain protection, but would be more challenging to build

I toyed with the idea of doing a double arch. then, a hole could be cut in the inside arch which would be protected by the outside arch. Also, more challenging to build and would be tough to maintain ... you'd really need a permanent roofing material on the inside arch at least.

 

[Krugerrand]

This is my rough sketch for 50"x6'x6' on the high arch side. I started adding up some costs too.

 

[Krugerrand]

just updating some threads where I referenced this.

 

[Krugerrand]