Using chicken tractors

[CHRISTINE BOLES]

Hi everyone, I have 9 backyard chickens who are 3 yrs old,its becoming that time were the amount of eggs are changing, so I decided to buy 40 brown laying chickens. I'm very excited for this new adventure and also very scared. I was given an opportunity to use someones 20 acres for chickens and to have them be all naturally feed with bugs,grass,oyster shells and duckweed.So my question is do I use 1 chicken tractor or 2? How big? Also the acres are a little holey, so I need to be able to glide the tractor. What should I use?I have so many questions,but I'll start with these....any suggestions?

 

[rjohns39]

Hi everyone, I have 9 backyard chickens who are 3 yrs old,its becoming that time were the amount of eggs are changing, so I decided to buy 40 brown laying chickens. I'm very excited for this new adventure and also very scared. I was given an opportunity to use someones 20 acres for chickens and to have them be all naturally feed with bugs,grass,oyster shells and duckweed.So my question is do I use 1 chicken tractor or 2? How big? Also the acres are a little holey, so I need to be able to glide the tractor. What should I use?I have so many questions,but I'll start with these....any suggestions?

How long do you want them in the tractors? Is this just for grow out or long term?

 

[CHRISTINE BOLES]

How long do you want them in the tractors? Is this just for grow out or long term?

This would be for long term, I want to add nesting boxes and perches.

 

[rjohns39]

This would be for long term, I want to add nesting boxes and perches.

Have you looked at our tractor articles? https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/tractor-coops.17/ Where it get's tricky is you want about 4sq ft per bird in coop space and 10sq ft in run space. You definitely want to use 1/2" hardware cloth and have to check each time you move it to make sure any gaps are filled. I like to run two hot wires around the base of mine with a solar energizer. If you do that, take care around your corners to avoid shorting to your hardware cloth. So weight and mobility are also key considerations. Avoid using PVC as it gets bridle over time and is hard to repair.

 

[CHRISTINE BOLES]

Thank you for your answer it helped me , I won't use PVC,so I need to figure out how large my tractor needs to be.....

 

[AgnesGray]

I just made Ms Biddys Cattle Panel tractor on wheels and it's great! I plan to make a few more this summer/fall. Best thing is that they're under $200 a piece to build and are very sturdy.

This was before I found hardware cloth and pieced the roof together with stuff I had on hand while we were stuck at home, but it's really great.

Most expensive thing about it was the wheels.

 

[rjohns39]

Thank you for your answer it helped me , I won't use PVC,so I need to figure out how large my tractor needs to be.....

Plan on multiple tractors for that many birds. There are designs out there for bigger tractors, but some require a vehicle to pull them. If you're planning on moving them, they have to be at a weight that you can move, unless you have something to pull them. Pulling with a machine is dangerous unless you have a second person to keep the birds out of harms way.

 

[BonNuit]

Plan on multiple tractors for that many birds. There are designs out there for bigger tractors, but some require a vehicle to pull them. If you're planning on moving them, they have to be at a weight that you can move, unless you have something to pull them. Pulling with a machine is dangerous unless you have a second person to keep the birds out of harms way.

This is so important. I built mine --it is so heavy that I can barely move it - I should have listened to my husband when he said how heavy it would be. D'oh.

 

[ShaylaFox]

I just made Ms Biddys Cattle Panel tractor on wheels and it's great! I plan to make a few more this summer/fall. Best thing is that they're under $200 a piece to build and are very sturdy.

View attachment 2263121

This was before I found hardware cloth and pieced the roof together with stuff I had on hand while we were stuck at home, but it's really great.

Most expensive thing about it was the wheels.
View attachment 2263123

What are the dimensions of the coop? I’ve been looking into building one of these too. I like the solid back wall!! Can you tell me what issues you ran into? How hard is it to move?

 

[AgnesGray]

What are the dimensions of the coop? I’ve been looking into building one of these too. I like the solid back wall!! Can you tell me what issues you ran into? How hard is it to move?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ms-biddys-cattle-panel-hoop-coop.73755/
I think it is about 100" deep (2 Cattle panels) x about 8' wide.

We thought it was a really great design and it went together quickly and fairly easily. The only issue we ran into was that without wheels, there was no way this old lady was moving it herself. We didn't want something flyaway lightweight because we get a lot of wind. My husband added wheels that drop down when we want to roll it around and then we lower the coop back to the ground when we get it where we want it.

I'm thinking of building one as a greenhouse this fall that can convert to housing ducks again during the summer when they want to be out on pasture. With the wheels, I love it.