Qs about tractors: size, moving, saving grass, dust, etc.

[banananutmuffin]

I am totally unsure about what type of coop to buy! So let me ask about chicken tractors:

1. Tractors seem to go against the standard "10 sq ft of run per bird" rule. How do the chickens stay happy in that little space?

2. How often do you need to move a tractor to ensure the grass below stays relatively fresh? And how long does a grass patch need to fully recover before you can put the tractor back on it?

3. If I'm always moving a tractor to a fresh patch of grass, where do the chickens get their dirt for a dust bath?

4. Do they tend to be generally secure from predators?

As always, thanks for the insight!

 

[Ridgerunner]

1. Tractors seem to go against the standard "10 sq ft of run per bird" rule. How do the chickens stay happy in that little space?

You move them a lot and you do not put many chickens in them. Don't get too far away from thay 10 square feet per chicken rule. You are really limited in the number of chickens you can put in a tractor.

2. How often do you need to move a tractor to ensure the grass below stays relatively fresh? And how long does a grass patch need to fully recover before you can put the tractor back on it?

This depends on many things. How many chickens you have in there, full sized or bantam, how long you leave it in one place, the quality of your turf, even whether it has just rained or has it been dry.

3. If I'm always moving a tractor to a fresh patch of grass, where do the chickens get their dirt for a dust bath?

Good question. If you leave it in one place very long, they will manage. Otherwise, it is probably more of a grass bath.

4. Do they tend to be generally secure from predators?

Generally against passer-by's but not real secure against digging predators. Obviously, it depends on what steps you take and how you build it. If the ground is not real level, there can be openings under the bottom that some predators can maybe squeeze through or give them help in knowing where to dig. You can come up with an apron system but that makes moving the tractor more complicated.

I built a tractor that was actually two 4' x 8' sections that could be moved separately but linked together. I had 8 full sized chickens in a 64 square foot tractor, or 8 square feet per chicken. This is what the ground looked like after three days in the same spot, and this was well established grass. It had rained while they were there so this is a bit worse than normal if it never rained while they were in it. Someone that keeps bantams in their tractor was surprised by how much damage they did. By the way, the area did start to stink pretty quickly if it rained. I had to move them more often than I thought I would, even at 8 sq ft per chicken. If I moved it once a day, it would obviously not have been nearly as bad.

Editted to add: This is not a lawn but a pasture-type area that the previous year had horses on it and is mowed maybe every three weeks. The turf was in real good shape.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
1) there IS NO "standard 10 sq ft of run per bird" rule. It is popular on this forum but there are plenty of other groupsa people who have their own signficantly-different rules of thumb. No one number is right. It just depends what you want to be doing and what your priorities/concerns/philosophies are.

2) Not all tractors are designed to have the chickens stay in there all the time; the chickens may free-range for at least part of each day.

But the chief answer to your question is

3) Yes, that means you cannot make a comfortable-sized tractor for very many chickens. 4 is about the maximum if you want to give them 10 sq ft of run apiece. Unless you build the 'house' and pen in separate halves, in which case you can go up to 6-8 hens (but it will be much much more of a pain in the neck to operate)

2. How often do you need to move a tractor to ensure the grass below stays relatively fresh? And how long does a grass patch need to fully recover before you can put the tractor back on it?

Depends heavily on your soil, turf, climate, number of chickens, and personal standards of what's "relatively fresh" and "recovered".

All I can tell you is, I used to have 3 hens in a 4x7-footprint tractor (the 'house' was atop the 4x7 run portion). I live in a low spot on clayey loam and our grass hardly EVER quits growing in midsummer the way a lot of peoples' lawn does, and it is reasonably healthy turf. I was having to move the tractor daily because within that day the chickens would have eaten/scratched the grass back to half or less its height/density, and left a whole lot of poo all over it, and often started digging some dusting holes in the ground. So with the daily moves, I was leaving a trail of "tractor footprints" across my lawn that would last at least 10 days (longer in dry spells) before they regrew enough to not be obvious.

Your mileage may of course vary, the variables involved have a VERY strong effect on the outcome.

3. If I'm always moving a tractor to a fresh patch of grass, where do the chickens get their dirt for a dust bath?

If they really want a dust bath they'll dig a hole in your lawn. But, no, it does not provide as good opportunities for dustbathing as a fixed run does.

4. Do they tend to be generally secure from predators?

Depends how you built your tractor, what your yard is like, and what your predator situation is.

The only general answer I can really give is that it a tractor is never going to be AS predator-proof-able as a fixed coop can be (but not everyone MAKES their coop as predatorproof as possible, so in some cases there is no difference between tractor vs coop).

If you do not have a 101% dogproof yard, I would suggest having a 1-2' wide digproofing apron around the tractor (flip-up design probably easiest to deal with, but any design will be a bit PITA). And best predator safety of tractor occurs when the 'house' part has a solid wooden floor and they're locked into that house at night by dusk.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[banananutmuffin]

Thanks!!! I think a tractor probably isn't for me, based on your responses. I just built a new house so this will be newly seeded grass they're on. I want 3 chickens, and was hoping to only move them every other day. Seems like a fixed run is a better way to go.

 

[patandchickens]

Well you know. What if you build a fixed coop *now*, but once the grass is well established (you DEFINITELY don't want chickens on it if it's been recently sodded/seeded!! It takes a year or so for grass to really get WELL established) you can consider building a 'day tractor' type thing so that during the daytime you can give them some grazing, then return them to the coop at night. Much cheaper than building a 24-hrs type tractor, and may be a useful compromise (at least for the future)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[lcflwt]

My experience was : 8 Production Reds in a 4'x12' tractor that I moved every 36 hours...morning one day, eve the next day, skip a day then the next morning. This would effectively mow the lawn, but three days later regrowth of dark green made it look very stubbly. This was on Fescue...can't kill it even if you try.

I didn't mind moving it every day...I collect eggs and rewater every day. The every 12 hours didn't bother me (on alt days) cause I opened them up and locked them in at those times.

I am duplicating this older experience now with the plan to move them every 24 hours, slightly smaller (ie lighter) tractor since I am older and weaker.

 

[allpeepedout]

7 chickens in my 8x12 tractor requires moving every couple of days to have sufficient grass left to recover; however, I tend to move it every day for cleanliness and to maximize forage feeding. My chickens easily and rapidly excavate craters for dusting every day. These craters are a pain, unless your pasture is out of the way and you can leave the craters intact and let the chickens reuse them on the next pass. I can't imagine using a tractor on my lawn due to the crater issue and basically trashed look that a few birds can manifest in only a matter of hours. I'm sure that people have different experiences based upon their soil, climate, moisture, and forage types.

My tractor is not dig-proof and I don't leave the gang in it much unless I'm around to babysit. I'd like to add an apron.

Tractoring is work but the chickens literally DELIGHT in having a fresh place to forage daily, and it really reduces the feed consumption. They stay incredibly busy all day instead of being bored and picking on each other.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

1. Tractors seem to go against the standard "10 sq ft of run per bird" rule. How do the chickens stay happy in that little space?

There is no 10sq.ft. rule. It's just a custom that some folks use. If you're using a fixed yard with nothing in it for the birds to do once they've wiped out the grass then the more space you can give them the better.

Tractors on the other hand are moved frequently, ideally every day, so the birds will always have fresh pasture to keep them occupied. Less boredom means you don't have to give them so much room to get away from one another.

In my tractors I work on a 5sq.ft. per bird rule of thumb. Weather permitting my tractors are moved every day so they have fresh pasture to keep them occupied.

2. How often do you need to move a tractor to ensure the grass below stays relatively fresh? And how long does a grass patch need to fully recover before you can put the tractor back on it?

This depends on how many birds you have in a given tractor, how much rain you've had lately, the temperature, and length of sun exposure. In other words if varies with the season and the weather. In the spring and summer if it's raining occasionally (or if you irrigate) then I could get away with crossing the same ground about every two weeks. In the fall and winter or if we're in a long dry spell then I prefer to wait at least a month. Generally I try to not cross the same ground more often than once a month.

In this photo we were in a dry spell so nothing was growing very fast and I was not mowing much either. Fall of the year. Tractors moved every day.

In this one it's mid-summer and raining regularly.

Inside of two weeks those tractors trails had turned dark green.

3. If I'm always moving a tractor to a fresh patch of grass, where do the chickens get their dirt for a dust bath?

If your turf is thick and lush you'd want to put a dust box in the tractor with them a couple of times a week.

4. Do they tend to be generally secure from predators?

If you use a ground apron wire around the outside then yes they can be very secure. My oldest tractor is now well over four years old and my newest are all over a year old. Except for the two growout pens (the bottom picture above) the other five tractors have been in continuous use. The only predators losses I've ever had came when I let the ground apron wire get into bad shape on two of the tractors so that a coon was able to get in through a big hole that had developed. I repaired the wire and have never had another predator loss inside of one of my tractors.

The problem with tractors is this: The more birds you want to keep in one the larger it has to be which in turn means the heavier and harder to move it is. Keep it to six birds or less and use wheels and it's doable for pretty much any adult or older child who is not physically handicapped in some way.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
You could build a stationary coop and attached run, plus a day tractor. The day tractor doesn't need any kind of arrangement for night housing so it can be built lighter, and you don't have to be so concerned with security since most predators are nocturnal. This is the arrangement I use, and I love it.