Too Small of a tractor?

[briteday]

I'm not that far from you geographically (Washoe County NV). I have 6 Rhode Island red hens in an A-frame. The whole thing sits on a raised bed planter that is made from 2 x 12's. The bottom of the frame is 4 x 8 and the peak of the A is about 5 feet tall. The coop is on top of the run underneath. The run is about 2 feet tall. That leaves about 3 feet in the upper A-frame part of the coop. And the floor up there is about 2 x 8. Honestly, in the winter I wish I had a few more big birds. They can't keep the temps up in the coop on cold nights and they are way spread out instead of being inclined (or forced due to space) to huddle.

I let the girls out to free range if the weather is nice and someone is home. And there has never been a day when they were totally confined to the upper coop.

But honestly, I think I could easily put 10 birds in there and they would be happy as long as they could get out a bit and the roosts are strategically spaced. This spring I'm looking at getting rid of the indoor feeders and water bucket in the coop Instead I am going to build a system to fill from the outside from PVC so that just a small pipe sticks into the coop, talking up less floor space. During the winter I will still have to revert to a heated dog water bowl. The idea for the outside feeder and waterer is here on the forum if you do a search.

Good luck!

Here's some pictures...

 

[PacsMan]

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I wonder if in the dry high desert air that would be a factor. It’s bone dry here most of the time. But, then again with 12 hens huf’n and puf’n eggs out every day, you never know… Anyone?

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Nice!

I noticed the roosts are in the upper part. Do they have enough headroom once they get up there? Are you using a deep litter method, or do you clean/replace litter often?

Thanks
Marty

 

[briteday]

I'm thinking in our area, your original 4 x 4 coop with 4 x 10 run is a bit small for 12 birds, could work for 8 birds. But the new shed idea is too large for 12 birds, mainly because of the head space. If your birds, like mine, can be out most of the time in a run or the yard...you'll be feeling the itch for a few more birds over the summer.

I moved the roosts down to about 8 inches off the floor. I use the deep litter method, our secretary at work gives me all the shredded paper I can use! I just keep adding to it about every two weeks. Since they have decided to nest in the rear corner of the side nearest in the photo, they walk through all the poop to get to the nest, resulting in dirty eggs. So each morning I sprinkle a bit of new bedding over the poopy places.

Hubby also found a piece of 90 degree bent aluminum flashing (about 8" wide, bent in half, sharp edges though so he rolled them on some sort of machine...got 12' cheap at Home Depot), cut it to 8' and put it over the ridge so that rain and snow can't get in. But we didn't seal it too tight so that moisture can still escape.

Things I would have done differently...place the gangplank ramp farther to the far end. It is currently almost centered with the food being on the far end. That whole half of the coop is just linoleum, no bedding so the bedding doesn't go down the ramp. I bought my pullets at 20 weeks and they had been kept on gravel in a dog run, no roosts or other places to sleep. So mine don't roost much, they tend to hunker themselves down...on the linoleum...in their poop. I have two that do roost over the bedding area. And none of them will use any kind of nesting box, they lay their eggs in a neat little nest they stomp out in the corner of the bedding...thus, they all walk across the poop with poopy feet from sleeping in it, to lay an egg. So if I would have moved the pop hole farther down, I could have put the bedding and barrier to hold it farther down, more bedding to walk across (think wiping their feet) before getting to the nest. It would have also forced them to sleep in the bedding instead of on the minimal amount of bare linoleum.

Food and water inside really doesn't take up as much space as I thought it would, about one foot square each. And I keep my food and water inside because of the wind we get some days. (they get greens and scratch in the run each morning).

But because they cannot keep this A-frame coop warm during the winter I'm building a new, smaller coop for them. It's two stories, but it does not cover the run. The footprint is 2 x 4 x 4H, with two stories inside and the food being fed in thru a tube...storage and filling of tubes from the outside. So essentially their floor space will be 4 x 4. It doesn't sound like enough space for 6 birds. But my neighbor has this set up with 6 barred rocks and they have plenty enough space for the night.

Because it is so dry here, and our clear nights get cold so fast, I would be tempted to get more birds if you use the shed for a coop. Mine is 2 x 8 and they can't keep it warm, I want to put at least 4 more large birds in there. With yours 10 x 6 you should evaluate space once you get your birds in there and then plan on more! Otherwise I think you may need auxilary heat in the winter.

Since my coop is so small, relatively speaking, I heat a large granite rock on the hearth during really cold weather (can also heat in the oven at 250 for a few hours!) and put the rock near where they tend to sleep in the coop. That helps on single digit nights to keep the coop around 25 degrees, plenty warm for my RIR's. But 10 x 6 and I'm guessing it's also 6 feet tall. That's a lot of air space for the birds to keep warm at night.

Of course all of this is predicated on the fact that my birds have the 4 x 8 run to play in while I'm gone during the day (and they don't seem to feel crowded in there), and they get out to free range during nice weather (no snow on the ground) several days each week.

If you use the shed I would consider:

-more birds or heat in the winter

-place things strategically so that poop is not in the path of the feeders or the nests, and you don't have to walk through poop to fill feeders

-put nest boxes (all 6 of mine use the same dug out nest even though I gave them 3 real box nests to start with) and roosts in as soon as you can so the birds start to use them right off

-figure out how you are going to open the doors to the run, especially when there's snow on the ground

-keep the run covered...winter from snow, summer from the sun

Most of all, have fun with your birds!

 

[patandchickens]

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There is NO SUCH THING as too large a coop. Honest. It gets colder than you want in the winter, just knock together an insulated hover above/around the roost, or partition off part of the inside of the coop, with or without a 'drop ceiling' rigged up. TOTALLY solves any possible heat-dilution problems, while maintaining maximal space for the chickens to use.

No such thing as too big, not ANYwhere. Honest

Pat

 

[thousand hills]

Sorry been a quiet bystander for a while,but just thought I'd give my encouragement for a tractor. It is very doable to have a moveable coop for up to 24 birds. I have 2 and am ready to build another.
Guess you need to really decide ....besides the usual checking, gathering,feeding, watering....what other time or money you want to invest. (my original skin a bones coop plan and run would have cost $700). So, I looked for other options.
My reasons for a moveable coop:daily fresh greens and bugs, laying down of their fertilizer(the grass becomes a beautiful green and 'layers' manure helps sweeten ph of soil), no parasite build up, protected from weather and predators, all self contained and attached to structure..including water, feed, oyster shell, no shavings, easily moves with wheels on more flat land, but on some of my hills I use the lawn tractor, year round housing here in NC(temps from 8 - 95 degrees,and all new mat'ls would run under $150.
Mine is 12' x 8' and tall enough for me to almost stand up in. I used bent over cattle panels stapled on a 2x4 frame and a tarp to form a hoop type structure. I love it!!! I pull back the tarp halfway for sun on nice days keeping the feeder and nest end covered in case of a sneak attack rainfall. I have 3 roosts and use buckets (attached sideways on the back plywood) for nest boxes. If you do a search you'll see some examples. I used those as a starting point. If you're interested, I think I saved some of that info and could get it to you. I'm not that computer savvy, but my daughter could help me get some of my own pictures on here if anyone is interested. Hope that helps.

 

[briteday]

Unfortunately (I learned the hard way) cattle wire and tarps do not hold up at all out in the western plains. We get winds exceeding 75 mph on regular basis when storms blow in. And we can get some pretty excessive snow load as most of the Great Basin (UT and NV) are above 5000 feet elevation. Even my 6' privacy fencing takes a beating every year, and it's cemented into the ground by 4' posts.

I did keep the RIR girls in a similar hoop coop for the summer as we weren't expecting to be getting them as soon as we did. It worked out OK for a limited period of time...until the first storm came through in the Fall.

 

[PacsMan]

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Thanks Thousand Hills! In ~my~ twisted logic than, a tractor 1/2 your size should do 1/2 as many as 24 birds. I guess I'm getting both sides here...

"you have WAY too many birds" vs. "it's doable"...

I think what I'll do is start them in the tractor and watch what they do. I can (fairly) easily add a second nest box on the other end, and if there is still a problem, move them to the shed.

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Yes, I'd love some pictures!
I can't wait till it gets warmer and I can put my ladies 'to pasture'...

Thanks all!

Marty

 

[PacsMan]

Oh, and one last question I need answered from you guys...

Shall I do 3, 4, or 6 nests for the 12 ladies?

Marty

 

[briteday]

I'd offer 3 nests. But don't be surprised if they only use 2. I have 6 girls using one nest.