Chicken Tractor

[just_sawing]

I happen on these pictures on Craig's List and have a question.
This tractor is 4 foot wide is that too wide?
It has a removable panel and appears less than desirable to collect egg would that bother you.
We are producing stuff for sell and have a design similar to this but I thought I would get input.
It is also for sell in the Nashville CL for $400.00

[eurycea12]

That is a pretty small unit for saleable production.
I would recommend that for an urban or suburban backyard. A couple of birds for a family egg production.
One use I can see for that would be to isolate a rooster and hen or two for chick hatching.

[eurycea12]

Sorry. I forgot to mention that it takes two people to move. I have seen the same design with wheels on one end.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I made one similar to that. It's fine for a few birds. You need the wide 'footprint' for the birds to have range space.

[Freeholder]

Yes, a chicken tractor really needs to be at least four feet wide. I wouldn't want one that needed two people to move it, as the one in the picture does. Even someone who normally had help for moving the chicken tractor might have to move it alone sometimes. I've had to move mine at times to get at the eggs that were laid on the ground (my tractors are basically large bottomless rabbit cages with a tarp over them, so no nest boxes), although I was usually moving them anyway so no big deal.

Kathleen

[highlands]

What we found was to use the chicken tractor just as their night time and egg space. During the day they forage up to about 300' from the night spot. In the winter they just use a covered run off the front. We move the hoop house seasonally.

http://images.google.com/images?q=si...20hoop%20house

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop

[cc-rider]

Where are the nesting boxes? It looks like the top part doesn't have a floor?

[solidwoods]

Originally Posted by cc-rider

Where are the nesting boxes? It looks like the top part doesn't have a floor?

On each end with a couple 2x4s linking them together.
jim

[cc-rider]

So the chickens walk the 2X4s to get to the other end where the nesting box is? Is there a reason, then, to have the entire top hinged? Maybe just hinge over each end?

[solidwoods]

The 2x4s may be for structural reasons.
Looks like the top face lifts off, no idea why they have made it full length.
Solid side in the middle looks like it would help structural integrity and make the requirements for long lumber less.
jim

[retiredbop]

I'll second the "too small for salable product" line. We average selling three dozen a week from our original 12 hens, which basically pays for their food and gives us free eggs. The run on the front of my original Cluckingham Palace model was 8' wide and 16' long. With 12 birds I had to move it at least every 3rd day, and every other day was better. That tractor looks to be only 4' wide and 8' long, so I'm figuring 3 birds would scar the yard pretty good after two days. You'd have to move that thing every day, every other day at best.

Also agree with the "separate hinged lids" line. Those boogers are hard to catch once they are loose. And two nest boxes means you are not going to be able to have more than 4-6 layers in there.

LOVE the idea of using it to isolate a roo and hens for hatching out!! I've been wondering how I could be certain which roo rode which hen to maintain a particular breed. THANKS.

[edzz]

Chicken tractors can be much simpler, and cheeper. This is the one that we use http://carolinachickenranch.com/cgi-...anch&item=7639 holds three chickens very well, two perfect, is light and easy to move.

[Beeman]

Mine is built on that design. No wood on the ends just wire, adds to the weight. The lapped wood on top seems too heavy also. I made mine the same as a 2 person carry deal, had to change to a 1 person drag and will add wheels. I have a nest box on one end with the roost running the entire length of the tractor. Ladder rests on a cross bar at the bottom so it doesn't get damaged while moving. Roof hinges upward to access nest box.