Tractor questions

[Edgars Mom]

Hello there... I'm hoping some folks will be able to help me. We are considering using tractors next year to raise turkeys out on our pasture. I'm hoping someone can share pictures/plans for a tractor that is predator proof and reasonably easy to move. I've seen a few l images online (mostly Pinterest pictures) but haven't found anything really helpful in terms of plans or designs that I like.

I've seen skirts or flaps around the outside edges to deter digging. The question I have is how that works when dragging the tractor to a new location with long grass, clover, alfalfa bushes etc? I'm thinking those flaps would not lie flat? I'm hoping someone who has experience with this can tell me how this works.

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who has been successfully using a tractor (without losses to predators) could reply and show me pictures and share their experiences. We have a high predator load which includes Coyotes, foxes, racoons, fishers and probably weasels. Someone on a Facebook group I'm on told me that that it's impossible to have a structure that's easy to move that is predator proof. I'm hoping someone can prove them wrong.

Thanks in advance...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Go to the tractors page.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/tractor-coops.17/

 

[Edgars Mom]

Go to the tractors page.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/tractor-coops.17/

Thank you for that link. I scrolled through all 14 pages and didn't see anything suitable for turkeys or easily modified to fit them. Most were portable coops which I don't need. Many did not appear to be predator proof.

What I'm looking for is something large (10X20 or close to it) reasonably easy to move and predator proof. I'm interested in hearing from people who are currently using one and have experience regarding the degree of predator protection. Most posts about tractors/coops seem to be from people who have just built them. I need to hear from people who have experience moving them, who know if their design holds up to years of use and doesn't come apart when moving it and who live in areas with predators and experience no losses. If such a person exists I hope they reply to this post.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am thinking a hoop tractor would be your best bet.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threadloom/search?query=Hoop coop&tab=620

For an apron that can be raised for moving and more easily reset.....perhaps 2' pieces/strips of a cattle panel with additional wire secured to them could be attached using pieces of plumbers strap so they are hinged in a way.

While pasture raised is certainly preferred making anything predator resistant is rather costly. Before investing it may be best to decide if this is something you plan to do for several/many years to help make the cost worth it.

 

[Edgars Mom]

I am thinking a hoop tractor would be your best bet.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threadloom/search?query=Hoop coop&tab=620

For an apron that can be raised for moving and more easily reset.....perhaps 2' pieces/strips of a cattle panel with additional wire secured to them could be attached using pieces of plumbers strap so they are hinged in a way.

While pasture raised is certainly preferred making anything predator resistant is rather costly. Before investing it may be best to decide if this is something you plan to do for several/many years to help make the cost worth it.

 

[Edgars Mom]

Thank you for your reply... Do you know how the skirts around the outside work in long grass? I'm worried that it won't lie flat and be ineffective.

I appreciate what you said about it being costly... What I'm doing right now is research to find out if it's feasible before we jump in to the cost and effort of building one. Ie. If the skirts don't work to deter predators then it won't be an option to use one at all. If I can find a design that works and I can leave them out on the pasture we are going to do it for sure. I only have one coop and want to keep some adults as pets and would need somewhere separate to raise the meat birds. So if we can use tractors my problem is solved.

 

[iwltfum]

When I lived in Colorado, we always used electric wire along the edges of the pasture pens. Never had a loss to a predator in those pens that only had chicken wire on them. and we had all the predators from coyotes to mountain lion, racoons, skunks you name it. They never messed with the hot wire. We just nailed in the wood post offset insulators on the board along the bottom edge of the pens and ran the hot wire through those and just disconnected it every time and moved the solar charger along with the pens. We could have never done it without the electric wire.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you don't need it to be portable (the definition of a tractor) why are you considering a tractor?
I agree with @21hens-incharge just go with a hoop coop since you don't need it on wheels or sleds.
To get the skirts to work, remove the grass first. Either use a weed eater or some other method to remove the turf, like a sod cutter. Then lay the skirt on flat soil and the vegetation will grow up through it.

 

[Edgars Mom]

If you don't need it to be portable (the definition of a tractor) why are you considering a tractor?
I agree with @21hens-incharge just go with a hoop coop since you don't need it on wheels or sleds.
To get the skirts to work, remove the grass first. Either use a weed eater or some other method to remove the turf, like a sod cutter. Then lay the skirt on flat soil and the vegetation will grow up through it.

I do need it to be portable which is why I'm asking people who have experience with moving them and whether or not their design holds together when moving it. I saw one on here that I love the look of but it was made out of 2 by 2 lumber and I'm afraid that would just crack apart when it's getting dragged over bumpy ground.

The problem with weed whacking where the skirts go is if I have a few tractors and they are 20 by 10 that's a lot of weed whacking to do every single day. Not practical at all. There must be someone using these aprons/skirts who has experience with moving it through long grass

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You don't have to do the weed whacking every day, just once. The grass will grow up through the hardware cloth.

.... Most were portable coops which I don't need. ...

So from your post, I thought you didn't need it to be portable.