Last year I used an old trampoline frame to fashion a chicken tractor for daytime use. It has some design drawbacks, though, so this year I dismantled the old tractor and built a new one. Here it is:
A front view of the large access door. It's easy to put in one of my plastic storage bin nestboxes through this big door.
This time, instead of extending the wire down from the sides to form an apron as on my old tractor model, I fashioned panels of wire, turned under on all the edges to there would be no sharp spots, then attached this to the wire on the frame using Loxit clips. When I need to move the tractor, the apron flips up.
I recycled the willow fencing I used on my old tractor to shade the new one, but the willow adds a lot of weight, so I haven't fastened it down. It's easier to take off the willow before moving the tractor. I have some left over polycarbonate panels that I'm thinking about putting on half of this tractor to give some protection from rain. But this is only a pen for daytime use, and just now I'm going to be using it as a broody pen for a hen with chicks, only on days when rain is not predicted.
Speaking of broodies, I have two more hens sitting on clutches that are due to hatch this week. These hens are sitting in side by side nestboxes in another run. I'm preparing for the need to keep them separate, so I built this broody pen using makeshift materials:
The side panels are parts from an old birdcage, fastened on three corners by zip ties. I left the fourth corner unconnected, because this is going to be the ingress/egress point. I'll probably fasten for use with a spring loaded clip or carabiner, or some such thing.
The top panels are fashioned from leftover vinyl coated hardware cloth, turned under on all sides to avoid sharp edges, then fastened on one side to the frame of the pen with zip ties. This makes it possible to flip the panels up when I need to move the pen, then flip them down to enclose the space. Here's a picture showing the top panels flipped up:
I put this pen inside the run where my broodies are now setting just so they get used to the look of it. I didn't want to upset them in the last few days before hatch.
Update: broody pen completed just in time! I went out to check a few minutes ago and both hens now have chicks hatched out under them. Yippee!
A front view of the large access door. It's easy to put in one of my plastic storage bin nestboxes through this big door.
This time, instead of extending the wire down from the sides to form an apron as on my old tractor model, I fashioned panels of wire, turned under on all the edges to there would be no sharp spots, then attached this to the wire on the frame using Loxit clips. When I need to move the tractor, the apron flips up.
I recycled the willow fencing I used on my old tractor to shade the new one, but the willow adds a lot of weight, so I haven't fastened it down. It's easier to take off the willow before moving the tractor. I have some left over polycarbonate panels that I'm thinking about putting on half of this tractor to give some protection from rain. But this is only a pen for daytime use, and just now I'm going to be using it as a broody pen for a hen with chicks, only on days when rain is not predicted.
Speaking of broodies, I have two more hens sitting on clutches that are due to hatch this week. These hens are sitting in side by side nestboxes in another run. I'm preparing for the need to keep them separate, so I built this broody pen using makeshift materials:
The side panels are parts from an old birdcage, fastened on three corners by zip ties. I left the fourth corner unconnected, because this is going to be the ingress/egress point. I'll probably fasten for use with a spring loaded clip or carabiner, or some such thing.
The top panels are fashioned from leftover vinyl coated hardware cloth, turned under on all sides to avoid sharp edges, then fastened on one side to the frame of the pen with zip ties. This makes it possible to flip the panels up when I need to move the pen, then flip them down to enclose the space. Here's a picture showing the top panels flipped up:
I put this pen inside the run where my broodies are now setting just so they get used to the look of it. I didn't want to upset them in the last few days before hatch.
Update: broody pen completed just in time! I went out to check a few minutes ago and both hens now have chicks hatched out under them. Yippee!
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