tractor... how & how often do I move it...

[4CiTyCHicHENs]

Originally i was thinging a 10x12 stationary coop. Now Im thinking a tractor... how & how often do I move it around the yard so the 2 (not 4-6 chickens I was planning on) dont eat all/tear up/kill the grass???

 

[SoJoChickens]

My brother has 3 hens in a tractor. I believe he moves them once a week when he mows the lawn.

 

[BriteChicken]

I'm going to have three and that's what I was planning on doing but I have never had them before so don't trust me

I'll be following closely!!!

 

[catdaddy66]

I think it depends on how many birds you have as to how fast they tear up grass. I have heard that a tractor should be moved daily, but I think you should be ok every few days as needed. I plan on moving mine every 3 days or so.

 

[4CiTyCHicHENs]

3 hens. thinking 3 foot by 7 foot &2 foot tall... (3x3 coop, 3x4 run)...

 

[elmo]

It depends...on your chickens, your grass, and how you feel that morning. Sometimes I move my tractor every day, other days I just don't feel like dragging it so I skip for a day or so.

It's just not for the good of your grass that you move the tractor, it's to keep the poo from building up too much in one place, too. My chickens spend the night in a stationary coop (where their poop falls into a tray that I dump into our composter daily), so there's less poop building up inside my tractor than if my chickens spent their nights there, too.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
That might actually be a little snug for three chickens, unless you're planning to let your chickens free range in your yard all day. The usual rule of thumb is 10 square feet per chicken for the run, and 4 square feet per chicken inside the coop. In my opinion, though, the more room you can give chickens, the better ...and the easier it makes things on the chicken keeper to keep things clean, unsmelly and healthy.

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, that is quite a small space for 3 chickens unless they will get out for part of each day.

If nothing else, it means you will be moving it much more frequently.

How frequently? It depends entirely on what your soil/lawn is like and how chewed/pooed you want the grass to get. I can tell you that, with 3 hens in a 4x7 (footprint) tractor on healthy dense rapidly-growing lawn, I had to move my tractor daily in order to avoid bare spots and even then you could see a trail of somewhat-chewed-down somewhat-dust-hole-dug tractor spaces stretching out behind where the tractor had been. Of course each spot grew back within a week or two, but it was certainly not invisible.

Honestly though you will simply have to see how it goes in your *particular* situation. Also remember that there will be times of year when the grass isn't growing back at all; and if you live somewhere with actual winter, there will be times of year when you cannot move the tractor at all for weeks or months.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[BriteChicken]

I live in North AL where we get 2 inches at most each year and so while the grass will slow down during winter it will be moved when needed I have a 3600 sqft backyard and am planning on having an 8x8 coop/tractor combo (the coop is 3x8 and run part is 5x8) for three chickens do you think that will work?

 

[A.T. Hagan]

8x8 for just three birds is plenty. My tractors are about that size and I keep 10-12 in them.

How often you should move them depends on two things:

One is how vigorously they scratch and the second is how fast your grass is growing. In the winter time you'd want to move them more often than in the summer since the grass is dormant.

.....Alan.