Our Best Tractor Yet!

[kev_n_jena]

Hi All,

I wanted to share our new favorite tractor. It's a warm weather unit for spring, summer, and fall. We'll move the hens to the soon to be converted chicken house before the snow flies.

The tractor measures 12' x 8' with a nest box that's about 36" x 18". It has 2 roosts that are about 5' long each.

The best part about this tractor is it's size and the fact that I can move it myself. I move it every day around the pasture full of clover. The Rhode Island Reds should be laying in August.

I think I have about $150 plus used lumber. The wood is 5/4 cedar decking that I ripped in half. It's very light weight and strong. It's covered in 1/2" hardware cloth. The 8" wheels were $6 ea. I did buy 2 treated 2 x 4's x 12 ft. long for the front and back.

Thanks for looking!

Kev and Jena

 

[b.hromada]

Nice job!

Doesn't it make you feel so good when you accomplish something like that? Enjoy those chickens.

 

[joletabey]

Nice!!!

 

[wekiva bird]

nice job,

 

[Rooster#3]

i love it

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Your area is beautiful!
Your tractor is really neat!
It wouldn't work for here because my chickens would get soaked in a rain, which can happen every day, and the eggs would never last in such an open box because of the rain and the sun! It doesn't matter where I put a tractor in a few hours the sun has found it and is beating in. Mine have to have protection more in the summer than in the winter here.

I know your girls are happy in all that clover! Mine adore it.

 

[kev_n_jena]

Thanks for the replies. Our plan is to stuff the nesting box with straw before the girls start laying. That's what we do on our other cage and it seems to work pretty well for us. If needed we might add some more wood on the nestbox for shade.

As far as rain. I'm not too worried about the hens getting wet. When we free range our chickens, they won't get in out of the rain until it's coming down in buckets. We had a really bad thunderstorm last night and over 8 inches of rain so far in June. The hens just go under the metal roof until the really heavy rain is over. Then they come out and find worms!

Kev & Jena

 

[kev_n_jena]

I wanted to update this post. The tractor is working like a charm! Our pullets are laying in the nest box perfectly. We have 16 hens and one rooster in the tractor and we regularly get 13 eggs per day now. I move it around the pasture everyday when I get home from work and the first thing the hens do is attack the bugs. The nesting material is actually cut grass from our yard that has dried. The hens really like it much better than straw and its free!

Kev n Jena

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Nice tractor! Great design, you don't see many that you can walk into. Good job.