Will this work? Would love some feedback on this tractor!!

[Halkatla]

Ok so Im really having trouble figuring out how to make my chicken tractor. The chickens will arrive soon, and I have never built anything in my life so I need something EASY and fast! I'll be getting 4 or 5 bantam orpingtons and they will live in the tractor all summer. When it gets colder I'll get them a bigger and warmer place.

Id love some feedback on my drawings. Will this be big enough? Space wise Im restricted in terms of garden space as well as car space (I gotta get all the building materials home somehow, in a pretty small Toyota Corolla..Anything longer than 2 meters wont fit in, lol)




To keep predators out at night I'll be covering the coop floor with wire (or whatever its called in english.. bit like chicken wire only squareshaped and much stronger). We have no racoons or snakes or weird stuff like that here But we do apparently have the occasional fox and badger, so I'll also add a "skirt" of wire around the coop edges to deter predators trying to dig their way in.

I'll be free ranging the chickens in the garden whenever Im out there with them, hopefully a few hours most days. They are bantams so I dont think I have the guts to let them out without me being there to keep an eye on them.. There are some big stray cats in this neighbourhood!

 

[aart]

That's a fairly decent design, thorough drawing too...but it's way too small, even for bantams.
I'd double or triple the size in every direction and add ventilation in the coop portion.

What is your climate?.... adding your location can help folks give better advise and answers.

 

[Halkatla]

Thanks for the input!
Ah yes, ventilation, forgot to draw that. Im planning to add a fair bit of ventilation, on each side under the slanted roof.

My climate here is temperate, I guess you could say. I live in south east Norway. Hard to compare to the US since I dont really know how its like over there, but our summers tend to range from 20 to 30 degrees celsius, with a moderate amount of rain. Never heard of anyone having troubles with chickens here because of heat or cold



Double the size, really? But that would make it.. 6 meters long! (20 feet?)

Most tractors Ive seen here on this side are 4 x 8 feet.. Would you say they are too small? I guess I could make it a wider, but wont it be extremely hard to move around if its much longer than now?


Is it tall enough by the way, or will they need more head space?

 

[aart]

There's a 4sqft per bird in coop and 10 sqft per bird in run 'rule of thumb'..bantams maybe 3 and 8......IMO this is a bare minimum.
Crowding can cause behavioral/health problems and can make manure management more intensive.
Free ranging doesn't negate the space numbers as when it's pouring rain or howling wind they will probably seek the cover of the coop.
Factor in floor space that feed and water vessels will take up.

Roost space 'rule of thumb' is 12" per bird, maybe 8-10" for bantams. They will squish together and sleep in less, until it gets hot, but need space to get settled.

Height of coop for head room over roost to fly up/down and makes ventilation much more efficient without strong drafts.

Tractors are hard because of space needed vs weight for ease of tractor movement.
I'd make at least the coop bigger and maybe consider a portable net fencing, electrified if predation dictates, for their 'run' space.

Many folks keep chickens in smaller than ideal spaces, it's a personal choice and mine is conservative as I don't like dealing with 'right now' problems due to inefficient design, especially when it comes to live animals living in an inadequate space.

Just one opinion of many.

 

[Halkatla]

Yeah, those guidelines calls for one hell of a tractor ..

You would need an actual tractor to move it around!

I -could- builde a more permanent sort of coop, but since we might move in a year or two I was thinking a tractor would be easier to bring with us. And giving the chickens access to fresh grass is important to me.




But - I refuse to give up my chicken dreams. Im gonna find a solution thats chicken friendly AND doable. So I guess its back to the drawing board, and maybe I should settle for 3 or 4 bantams instead of 5... ?

Better than crowding them!

 

[aart]

Building a tractor you can move easily, then getting how ever many chooks will fit comfortably is a good idea.
That way you can check it out and see if you like it.

If you go bigger down the road with a larger coop and more birds......
....the tractor can be used in the future for an isolation coop for new birds, broody hens, rogue cockerels, etc.

Always need an extra(or two) crates, cages, enclosures when you have chickens.

 

[GardenHen]

My chicken tractor is 4 x 8 ft = 32 sq. ft. I have 4 hens (unknown kind, but not bantams) I move it every day to a new piece of lawn. It's a bit heavy, but too much for me. Half is covered and half is open, but when it rains I put a sheet of wood over the mesh section so they still have the same amount of space to run around. We eat the chicken in the fall, because I don't have space to keep them over the winter.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Here is ours. 2 story. comfortably houses 2 adult birds, one broody and chicks. Or, just chicks bought straight. No mama hen. The birds we have now, they get to free range also, but if they are stuck in the tractor, they can still have enough space to not be too crowded. I don't know the dimensions anymore, but those are two full sized adult chickens standing by the door.

 

[Halkatla]

What do you folks think of this coop: http://www.happyvalleyhenhouse.com/ ?