The Flying Fortress Chicken Tractor

[squadleader]

Hi Aart,

The anti-dig mat that surrounds the tractor extends out 50 inches, and worked out way better than I ever dreamed. Most things I did on the tractor, I saw on this forum, or were inspired by what I saw here.

While I'm sure someone else has used this type of anit-dig mat before, I just have never seen it, so I thought long and hard on this problem, how to keep out night time predators. I didn't want to wire the floor of the tractor, it defeats its purpose. Plus I can tell you from experience now, with a tractor this big, this rigid, on ground that can be a little uneven, there are going to be gaps under the skids that a predator could use to get in the tractor, there's simply no doubt.

However, with this mat, I can't imagine a predator figuring out, and even if he does, being willing, or even able, to dig 50 inches under my mat, and another 8 inches under the skid, together that's almost five feet. So until I see this system breeched, I think this problem is solved.

It turns out because I used cattle fence panels as the base, with hardware cloth zip tied on top of them, that they are very rigid, and have a slight natural bend in them that keeps them from digging in when you drag the tractor every week.

Once the cinderblocks I use as weights are removed, you simply drag the tractor, mats and all, forward 8 feet onto fresh ground, then you just put the cinder blocks back on them, and you're done til next week.

As far as size goes, the cattle fence panels I got at Tractor Supply were cheap, about $22, and big, 16 feet x 50 inches. The holes, mostly 6 inch by 8 inch, in the panels are too big, but make a great substrate for zip tying the hardware cloth to. I used 48 inch hardware cloth, so my cattle panel is 2 inches wider. I used heavy zip ties, the ones rated to around 120 lb of strength. You always want to use black zip ties because they are UV resistant, while the white zip ties are for indoor use, and aren't.

So the panels are attached to the frame of the tractor using screw in hooks that once the panel was placed into the hook, I bent the hook closed. So actually the attachment to the tractor becomes a hinge, allowing all four sides of the mat to be lifted, and I had a little chain that held them up, when I dragged the tractor. I soon discovered I simply didn't need to raise them to move the tractor, they did fine during the drag. But I had another small problem, an annoyance really, that I felt I had to have a removable attachment at the four joints around the tractor where the four mats met each other.

So since I didn't need to raise them anymore, I redid the side panels so that the hardware cloth extended over the mats on the front and back of the tractor by about 18 inches. I zip tied the hardware cloth to the front and back panels (which is easy to undo if ever needed) and now there is no gap whatsoever between the four mats. The cattle fence panels don't overlap, but the hardware cloth on the two side panels, does run over the front and back panels, leaving the mat continuous all around the tractor.

Making the investment in this night time security, made me more comfortable constructing a tractor that doesn't contain an internal coop, the whole tractor becomes their coop. It takes less than 15 minutes to drag the coop every week, and that includes a quick scrap of the roosting boards, and running the ash sifter through the dust box, tossing any poop on the ground, before I drag the tractor.

It's a very nice feeling to walk in the tractor after the drag, and it's absolutely poop free, clean smelling, and a very healthy place for the chickens. All the poop from last week, is now next door, decomposing into the ground for better grass next year. While probably not necessary, if my daytime predator situation ever got so bad I couldn't free range like I do now, I would probably drag the tractor twice a week, it's so easy, I wouldn't mind.

I've been pleasantly surprised how little trouble I've had with daytime predators. Goodness knows the threat is there, we see hawks all the time, and to make it even better, we even have a pair of eagles that regularly sits in a tree about a hundred feet from the tractor.

I did a little reading on here about that, and it seems some peoples roosters are able to protect the flock, first and foremost by keeping the flock under cover of brush and woods, but even staring down threats. Apparently we're lucky with our rooster, he's a big guy, about twice the size of the hens, not shy, and will even come after me once in a while.

Our tractor is so far from the house, we usually drive out to it. When we do, there are seldom any chickens at all to see, the rooster has them well covered, but suddenly he comes sprinting out of the brush or woods, with the hens following, wondering what treat we're bringing them!

So I don't know if we're going to have daytime trouble or not, but after almost five months, we haven't lost any chickens, or even had an attack we're aware of. The chickens have such a good time free ranging, and have done such a good job of watching out, that I've come to think that the risk of free ranging is well worth it, in the quality of their life, and the increased quality of the eggs because of their natural diet.

I am working on a way to lock the door of the tractor into a 5 inch opening during the day, hoping that will give the tractor at least some protection from large daytime predators like dogs. The chickens do seem to be aware of how vulnerable they are in the open to aerial predators sometimes, because sometimes they bolt over the open area, half running, half flying, heading straight to cover. Other times, especially when w'ere down there, they graze peacefully out in the open meadow.

 

[Chullicken]

Holy hell old school chicken fortress tractor. lol That isn't a chicken tractor, that is a mobile command unit. Do you use a tarp all year round or do you have some neat roofing idea that folds around the arch?

 

[aart]

I soon discovered I simply didn't need to raise them to move the tractor, they did fine during the drag.

Makes sense.
Thanks for the incredibly detailed and articulate response.

 

[squadleader]

Thanks for the compliment Sunflour, I took a look at the contest you mentioned. I didn't know about it. I'll have to see if I can figure out how to get all this stuff over there.

 

[N F C]

Wow, you've definitely given me a case of coop envy! Thanks for sharing it with us and I do hope you'll enter the contest!

 

[Chullicken]

I joke and jest, but I really think this style of coop is the future for raising fowl on any level. Easy construction, affordable, safe and often times mobile.

 

[squadleader]

Hi Chullicken,

Thanks for the compliment.

Actually that's not a tarp, it's a black plastic material, similar in some ways to commercial sheet roofing called TPO, used a lot on shopping centers and warehouses. It's a permanent material you don't take off. I think you could pick up some at a roofing supply house, or you could use any other rubber roofing product I would think.

I will tell you though, it's very important for the material to be either white originally, or painted white. I had that material left over from a job and it was black. I put it on the tractor this summer and it got so hot, you couldn't touch it. I went in the tractor, and it felt like all the wire in the hoop of the tractor had been turned into heating elements, like in your oven, they were absorbing the heat of the black roofing. Not good! Heat kills chickens.

So to solve the problem, I decided to create an air gap. Air is a very poor heat conductor. I got some 1x4's, ran them through the table saw to double their number, then zip tied them to the wire hoop down the whole length of the tractor, each row about 16 inches apart, you can see them in the photos. Then I threw the roofing material over the tractor and ran it down over the rail of the tractor that's 27 inches off the ground. I then put a complete 1x4 over where the roofing material overlapped the wooden rail, and put in 3/4 inch deck screws with big washers every six inches to lock the roofing material down. Only on each end, did I put a screw and washer into the split 1x4's to keep the wind from getting a bite on the ends. The last step was to paint the black roofing material white, in a few places it has come loose, but I'll try some white spray paint on those area shortly. After painting the tractor white it was cool to the touch, even on very hot sunny days.

It turns out chickens are originally jungle birds from Asia, and they primarily want to stay under cover in shade. I've definitely noticed that to be true of my birds. For that reason I only left the front of the tractor (the end I always keep facing south) completely open, to allow in sunlight, especially in winter, when the sun is low in the southern sky, and then in addition, the first 24 inches of the tractor is open, along with the 27 inch band of open wire around the bottom of the whole tractor. 42 of the 48 feet of the lower wall in the tractor is open to the light, most of that covered in winter in clear roofing made of plastic that is removed when the weather breaks in Spring.

I wanted the chickens to be able to perch in the sun at the southern end of the tractor if they wanted, so I put a clear roofing plastic over that section and ran the overhang out 12 inches beyond the front of the tractor to keep out any blowing rain. I used a 30 inch overhang at the back of the tractor where I was protecting a wooden wall, roll out nesting box, the door, and other stuff.

In the photos you can see how I overlapped the clear roof onto the white roof. I got that clear roofing stuff at Home Depot. I liked the straps that conform to the shape of the clear panels. By overrunning the white roof by a foot, and by using one of those straps (that one single row of straps isn't screwed into the wood of the hoop, only the panel), I was able to prevent any leaking of water between the white roof and the clear plastic roof. The strap causes any water rolling along the white roof that tries to roll under the clear plastic panel, to instead hit the strap, and follow the strap down, and off the white roof before it gets to the clear plastic panel.

So just like yesterday when I took those photos of the tractor, it was raining, and the chickens were enjoying the light and breeze roosting on the southern end of the tractor, without getting any rain on them.

 

[Chullicken]

Hi Chullicken,

Thanks for the compliment.

Actually that's not a tarp, it's a black plastic material, similar in some ways to commercial sheet roofing called TPO, like on shopping centers or warehouses. It's a permanent material you don't take off. I think you could pick up some at a roofing supply house, or you could use any other rubber roofing product I would think.

I will tell you though, it's very important for the material to be either white originally, or painted white. I had that material left over from a job and it was black. I put it on the tractor this summer and it got so hot, you couldn't touch it. I went in the tractor, and it felt like all the wire in the hoop of the tractor had been turned into heating elements, like in your oven, they were absorbing the heat of the black roofing. Not good! Heat kills chickens.

So to solve the problem, I decided to create an air gap. Air is a very poor heat conductor. I got some 1x4's, ran them through the table saw to double their number, then zip tied them to the wire hoop down the whole length of the tractor, you can see them in the photos. Then I threw the roofing material over the tractor and ran it down over the rail of the tractor that's 27 inches off the ground. I then put a complete 1x4 over where the roofing material overlapped the wooden rail, and put in 3/4 inch deck screws with big washers every six inches to lock the roofing material down. Only on each end, did I put a screw and washer into the split 1x4's to keep the wind from getting a bite on the ends. The last step was to paint the black roofing material white, in a few places it has come loose, but I'll try some white spray paint on those area shortly. After painting the tractor white it was cool to the touch, even on very hot sunny days.

It turns out chickens are originally jungle birds from Asia, and they primarily want to stay under cover in shade. I've definitely noticed that to be true of my birds. For that reason I only left the front of the tractor (the end I always keep facing south) completely open, to allow in winter sunlight when the sun is low in the southern sky, and the first 24 inches of the tractor open, along with the 27 inch band of open wire around the bottom of the whole tractor. 42 of the 48 feet of the lower wall in the tractor is open to the light, most of that covered in winter in clear roofing made of plastic that is removed when the weather breaks in Spring.

I wanted the chickens to be able to perch in the sun at the southern end of the tractor if they wanted, so I put a clear roofing plastic over that section and ran the overhang out 12 inches beyond the front of the tractor to keep out any blowing rain. I used a 30 inch overhang at the back of the tractor where I was protecting a wooden wall, roll out nesting box, the door, and other stuff. In the photos you can see how I over lapped the clear roof onto the white roof. I got that clear roofing stuff at Home Depot. I liked the straps that conform to the shape of the clear panels. By over running the white roof by a foot, and using one of those straps (that one row of straps isn't screwed into the wood of the hoop, only the panel, didn't want it to leak, but the strap does cause any water trying to roll under the clear plastic panel, to instead follow the strap down and off the white roof before it gets to the clear plastic panel.

So just like yesterday when I took those photos of the tractor, it was raining, and the chickens were enjoying the light and breeze roosting on the southern end of the tractor, without getting any rain on them.

Oh very interesting choice for roofing, I'm always looking for something spectacular when I build mine. Something pliable and sturdy. Yes, Grey Jungle Fowl is the bird you're thinking of from Asia. Originally the world believe chickens derived from the Red Jungle Fowl, that thought has changed in the last decade. Hope you plan on putting that in the coop contest and maybe throw up some blueprints! Thanks so much for the detailed response, gave me some great ideas.

 

[squadleader]

I've been exposed to the building trades all my life and have done quite a bit of research on how to effectively work with the sun when building. I would strongly advise that this type of tractor always be faced south. During the summer the primary sun heat loads fall on the east and west walls of any structure, however during winter, the primary heat loads shift to the south wall because the sun is so much lower in the sky during the winter, while in the summer the sun is almost directly overhead.

This creates a great opportunity. When it's cold in the winter, the suns streams deep into the tractor because the south end is open, and the sun is at such a low angle. However, in the summer when it's hot, the tractor's interior is mostly in the shade because the sun is so high, and the east and west walls/roof keep the sun out.

The other problem is that this tractor has an open wire door, that if the tractor is facing east or west during summer, the sunlight will fall on the bucket causing the water to be hot, which is less attractive to the chickens, but also puts more risk of bacteria growing in the warm bucket water. But there is a reason the water bucket is by the door. It's for the sake of efficiency because the water bucket is the only thing you mess with once a week, so I wanted it to be the first thing inside the door.

In this design, the tractor is the coop, so we need to be able to keep out cold wind. By only facing the open end south, the north end especially, and the east and west become wind blocks from the north wind. I cover the door, which faces north, with the clear plastic roofing material in the winter, except leave about 4 inches at the top open. That's well above the level the chickens roost at (their roosting board is 30 inches off the ground), so they aren't in a draft while roosting at night.

So keeping the tractor facing south keeps your chickens cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and keeps their water bucket out of the sun.

 

[Fishybiz]

Wow awesomely impressive. My HOS won't go for those design plans so I am jealous.

At first look (before expanding the picture) I thought those black things sticking up from your hardware cloth/cattle panel mats were spikes of death like some sort of inverted 6" nail...

Kudos to you. Great structure.