Thoughts on my chicken tractor......

[TalkALittle]

My chickens seem to be spending a lot of time mid-morning and mid-afternoon  loafing upstairs ..... do you think a low roost in the run below would cut down on that?

A roost might help. My birds often have periods during the day where they choose to roost and preen themselves--just sort of hang out and chill in the run.

My girls also seek out shady spots at certain times. Might your birds be inside to get out of the sun? The time of day you describe could be when the sun might be coming in at an angle and so hitting them directly.

 

[jimbob86]

Plenty of shade in the run .....

 

[Outpost JWB]

Looks nice!

 

[jimbob86]

Opened the end for more ventilation.....

 

[jimbob86]

..... and added a large nestbox on the forward end.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

..... and added a large nestbox on the forward end.

This is a nice little tractor. Beautiful shot of the girl in the coop, she's adorable! I was thinking about getting Orpingtons, but they're so sweet I thought I'd have trouble using them for other half of "dual purpose" I think the square feet calculated is generally considered to be closer to 4' per bird unless they have free range, so it IS small for 9 large fowl. You could build a "winter run", a covered pen with a little more room for when the weathers too bad for the chicken tractor ....if you attach the tractor (via chicken tunnel, or Chunnel ) they could still roost in the tractor. Of course if the winter run has perches that are higher they might prefer those

 

[jimbob86]

This is a nice little tractor.

Beautiful shot of the girl in the coop, she's adorable! I was thinking about getting Orpingtons, but they're so sweet I thought I'd have trouble using them for other half of "dual purpose"

I think the square feet calculated is generally considered to be closer to 4' per bird unless they have free range, so it IS small for 9 large fowl.

You could build a "winter run", a covered pen with a little more room for when the weathers too bad for the chicken tractor ....if you attach the tractor (via chicken tunnel, or Chunnel ) they could still roost in the tractor. Of course if the winter run has perches that are higher they might prefer those

THIS is exactly the line of thought I am currently pursuing: member Blooie made a run out 4 (ea.) 4'x16' cattle panels ..... I could park the tractor under that, November to March over 1/2 my garden plot...... maybe leave that section fallow for a year (chicken exhaust is HOT fertilizer)...... plant it to clover as a cover crop?

 

[Chipper Chicken]

That is so funny you'd mention garden....I started to go into a long winded discussion about my ideal winter run solution, chicken moats around gardens, but didn't have time to really phrase it well....and thought perhaps you weren't going to be interested in doing that bit of extra work......so I deleted it all ah well, IF it's something that peaks your interest, there are several good examples here on BYC. I am leaning towards thinking of it (a chicken moat around a garden, partially covered of course, with a tarp or something solid) as just about the best secure free ranging possible in lieu of a nice big pasture (mine will get that too, but only in summer when there's no risk of flooding from the creek) and for when I have to leave on business.
On the subject of the cattle panel run like @Blooie did a detailed build of, I'm a big fan. I've thought they'd make great quail pens too.
The nice thing about parking your tractor inside the cattle panel run is they never have to relearn where everything is. Nest boxes, roosts, feed, water....all in the same familiar place.