Where to attach feed troughs to a Salatin-style chicken tractor

[GiantChickensRock]

Has anyone built a Salatin-style chicken tractor for meat birds/cornish cross, who could share photos of where/how they attached the feeders? I am planning to run the water cup system down one side fed by a 5-gallon bucket, and I'm trying to figure out where to put the feeders where they'll be protected from the rain but also reachable to refill them. Currently I have three 3' long metal troughs, I may try hanging them so that the birds can feed from both sides, but that leaves them less space to sleep under the covered roof area. I'm planning on building it 12' long and 10' wide to hold 50 chickens. We alternate between cornish cross, rangers, and heritage dual-purpose roosters so I'm building it a little larger on purpose. (Photo borrowed from another site and is used as an example)

 

[StinkyAcres]

I would make the hinged section the part with the roofing. Then you can place the feed troughs on or near that covered wall.

 

[GiantChickensRock]

Thanks - I may hinge BOTH sides and have a solid piece in the middle for structure/support. I'm also trying to make it somewhat easy to CATCH the birds on freezer camp day - which would require access from both ends (and maybe a muskie net). I think the pictured tractor is 10x10 so mine will be two feet longer, I can use the extra two feet to put the center support in to attach the hinges to. I remember someone in a previous post (that I now cannot find) saying to NOT attach the troughs to the walls - but I cannot remember his reasoning, or the problem he encountered when he did so.

 

[Molpet]

Thanks - I may hinge BOTH sides and have a solid piece in the middle for structure/support. I'm also trying to make it somewhat easy to CATCH the birds on freezer camp day - which would require access from both ends (and maybe a muskie net). I think the pictured tractor is 10x10 so mine will be two feet longer, I can use the extra two feet to put the center support in to attach the hinges to. I remember someone in a previous post (that I now cannot find) saying to NOT attach the troughs to the walls - but I cannot remember his reasoning, or the problem he encountered when he did so.

I don't have one but they need to get to both sides of a trough feeder. Greedy little pigs will push the weaker out unless there's room for all.

I have seen hung down the center with room for birds to feed on ends

 

[FunClucks]

Each grown bird needs a foot and a half of space (for CX) at the feed trough. When they're young, they need at least the width of their bodies for every bird each time they eat. They all eat at the same time, otherwise they will cut up each others' rears with their sharp claws, and they can cut down to the muscle if you don't catch it. They don't take turns like eggers do, and will lie down in one spot to eat if they can, so I hang the troughs high enough where they have to stand up and as they grow I adjust the height. Also you can't let the feed get rained on, so that might be one reason putting the feed at the side of the tractor was an issue. The birds don't fare well if they get wet either, and can easily come down with pneumonia.

 

[FunClucks]

You didn't ask, but I feel the need to share - CX don't move over unless you physically make contact and force them to move. I used a gravel rake to move them over so I could stir their mulch when I raised them in a covered run. I'd worry about them getting their toes stepped on when moving a tractor, and even walking up on and off of a 2"x4" is a chance for them to trip and fall, so try and design it so that doesn't happen and move the tractor somewhat slowly - they literally only move when forced, and you don't want anyone getting trampled. I had a literal ramp in the center of my brooder so the chicks could safely get over a 2" raised area in the center (where i'd joined two dog crate openings together).

Also always look before you set anything down in the brooder - egger chicks will run out of the way of hands or objects coming at them from the sky, but CX don't do that. They will stand there and be squished unless you physically push them over first. Unfortunately I know this for certain first hand and will never be making that mistake again.

I raised 25 CX in 150 sq feet, and literally had to herd them over so I could fill the food, water, and deal with mulch. They kept wandering back over to me, and are very ungainly. Very docile through processing age, and easy to catch because they're slow. All you need is two people or one person and a towel or rake. I could do it by myself, but it was easier to do with a buddy.

At 9 wks old I had one female extend her neck a bit to reach up to get at the 5 gallon bucket horizontal nipple waterer I had up on a cinder block. She was jostled by other chickens, lost her balance, and fell over on her back. She must've been 10 lbs live weight at least. She was so large in the breast and ungainly and her wings were small and useless and she couldn't right herself. Luckily I saw that and flipped her back over, or I'd shortly have had a dead chicken.

Good luck!

 

[DemeterAD9]

Commenting because I like the simplistic design and need references for my own project!

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

You didn't ask, but I feel the need to share - CX don't move over unless you physically make contact and force them to move. I used a gravel rake to move them over so I could stir their mulch when I raised them in a covered run. I'd worry about them getting their toes stepped on when moving a tractor, and even walking up on and off of a 2"x4" is a chance for them to trip and fall, so try and design it so that doesn't happen and move the tractor somewhat slowly - they literally only move when forced, and you don't want anyone getting trampled. I had a literal ramp in the center of my brooder so the chicks could safely get over a 2" raised area in the center (where i'd joined two dog crate openings together).

Also always look before you set anything down in the brooder - egger chicks will run out of the way of hands or objects coming at them from the sky, but CX don't do that. They will stand there and be squished unless you physically push them over first. Unfortunately I know this for certain first hand and will never be making that mistake again.

I raised 25 CX in 150 sq feet, and literally had to herd them over so I could fill the food, water, and deal with mulch. They kept wandering back over to me, and are very ungainly. Very docile through processing age, and easy to catch because they're slow. All you need is two people or one person and a towel or rake. I could do it by myself, but it was easier to do with a buddy.

At 9 wks old I had one female extend her neck a bit to reach up to get at the 5 gallon bucket horizontal nipple waterer I had up on a cinder block. She was jostled by other chickens, lost her balance, and fell over on her back. She must've been 10 lbs live weight at least. She was so large in the breast and ungainly and her wings were small and useless and she couldn't right herself. Luckily I saw that and flipped her back over, or I'd shortly have had a dead chicken.

Good luck!

I second the fact that CC do not move. I would have to scoop and shuffle to wade through the mass. Moving a tractor alone, for me, was impossible because they would not walk forward. One time a chicken did move but it was to go in front of the wheel (didn’t get run over).

 

[Mountain Roost]

We put the feed on the next clean and green grass spot and pull the tractor over the feed. They move forward with gusto. We move like 18 inches at a time watching the rear for stragglers. This year we are implementing Salatin's dolly to help move them.