Newby question!!! Please help!!!

[altemusprime]

It's my first tractor so I don't have much to compare it to. It seems light. I can pick-up on the handle and move it around pretty easily myself. I wanted to do coop and run together but was afraid of too much weight. My tractor wheels are made from an old wire spool and I worried with the extra weight they would sink into the yard after a good rain.

 

[altemusprime]

Well they are out for their first night outside! Finished the tractor coop today. They were having a blast all afternoon in the grass. As it cooled down they all jumped right into the coop but right around dark I noticed they were really tightly huddled in a corner and appeared to be shivering so I put a heat lamp in with them and viola!!! They were happy as could be.

Kids watching the chicks peck and scratch

Finished broiler coop and run 2 piece tractor.

Easy access to clean and tend to birds.
This is my first BYC project and tractor. Had so much fun building it all and having a blast raising healthy groceries for my family.

 

[SIMZ]

It looks great! You did a very good job! It looks like you're off to a great start with your first meaties.

 

[altemusprime]

Everything seems to be running along smoothly. Hopefully the move outside will continue down the same path!

We added 6 barred rocks and 6 buff orpingtons to the flock this afternoon! We have chicken fever in this house!

 

[altemusprime]

Well they all survived the night. Checked on them around midnight and all were sleeping. The biggest ones were huddled together away from the lamp but the rest were all under the lamp so I think I'll leave it with them a little while until they feather a little more and get a little bigger. I did move water in with them last night and it looks like they drank a little through the night. This morning when I opened the pop hole door they were a little unsure whether or not to come out in the cold. Once one made the plunge they all came out and filled their crops. And headed back into the warmth of the coop.

 

[amtreth]

I'm sure they are fine. They seem to have a herd mentality and when you show one or two how to do things the others tend to follow. I love your tractor! Do you have plans on how u made it that ur willing to share

 

[altemusprime]

Thank you. I'm sorry I don't have plans for it. I just got an idea in my head of what I wanted and started slapping it together. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't have 2 seperate sections. I should have used all 2x2 lumber instead of 2x4 and 2x3 studs and it would have probably been light enough to keep both sections as 1. The wheels are the ends of a wire spool with a piece of 1 1/2" rigid galvanized conduit for the axel. If I get a chance I'll try to sketch a schematic.

 

[ScouterJoe]

What are the basic dimensions of the tractor?

 

[altemusprime]

Run is 8'x5'x30". Coop is 4'x4' footprint and 30" high in front x 20" high in back.

 

[altemusprime]

These broilers amaze me! Never have seen anything grow this fast. Every day when I open their pop door and the race to the feeder, they look like different birds!!!