Tractor vs. coop for starting out

[melissafred]

We just purchased a 40 acre farm here in northeast Kansas and will take physical possession June 1. Our to-do list for June and July before I start back to work when school starts in August is long - do a little cosmetic work to the farmhouse, get moved out of our quarters on post and on to the farm (the army will move us, we just have to clean this place then unpack and figure where everything will go at the farm), get the raised beds built and planted and have a storm cellar put in. We both grew up in the country on small farms and have gardened for the past several years so none of this is new to us.

Chickens are high on the priority list but I need to hear from the voices of experience. I've never raised chickens; my husband had them as a kid but it's been years. My thought was to start with 4-6 18-22 week old pullets - a pair each of Buff Orpingtons, Australorps and maybe Barred Rocks - so that we'll get eggs sooner and not have to deal with the stress of raising babies while trying to get moved and settled. For housing, can we get by with a basic A-frame tractor made of 2x4s and covered in 1/2" hardware cloth until my husband can get the coop built by early October? I would assume that we'd use thin plywood across the top 1/3 of both sides for shade? If this is feasible, how long & wide should it be? Can we put roosts across one end and set nesting boxes on the ground or do they have to have a solid-sided structure to go into at night?

Once we get the hang of raising chickens, my thought was look at getting chicks next spring/summer. By then, we'll have learned more about raising chicks, have a better idea of where/how we want to set up the coop and have it built.

So have we lost our minds for this first summer on the farm? Is adding chickens to the mix a bit much? Please feel free to shoot holes in our chicken plan and make suggestions. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about raising chickens and am wide open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance!
Melissa

[SillyMe]

Hi Melissa and welcome to the forum.

It appears that you have two very important things in your (or the chicken's) favor with your plan.
1. 18 to 22 week old pullets should be fully feathered and able to live happily with temperature changes.
2. You plan to start in June in Kansas - the weather should be mild enough for the young ladies.

I would say your plan is a good one for starting out in a tractor. But it will be important to have a coop for them by the end of October.

[wally]

welcome to homesteading today and congrats in the farm purchase. I can offer no advise on the tractor concept, our farm had a coop in place when we purchased.. I would suggest you get your chickens, with all that you will want to and have to do, spending a few minutes a day with your "stock" will be a very welcomed break.

[Fire-Man]

Originally Posted by melissafred

Chickens are high on the priority list but I need to hear from the voices of experience. I've never raised chickens; my husband had them as a kid but it's been years. My thought was to start with 4-6 18-22 week old pullets - a pair each of Buff Orpingtons, Australorps and maybe Barred Rocks - so that we'll get eggs sooner and not have to deal with the stress of raising babies while trying to get moved and settled. For housing, can we get by with a basic A-frame tractor made of 2x4s and covered in 1/2" hardware cloth until my husband can get the coop built by early October? I would assume that we'd use thin plywood across the top 1/3 of both sides for shade? If this is feasible, how long & wide should it be? Can we put roosts across one end and set nesting boxes on the ground or do they have to have a solid-sided structure to go into at night?

Melissa

Sure you can. I got alot of chicken tractors(as well as a big coop). I have so many hawks, preditors I can not free range without standing guard. I have around 100 chickens in 10 different pens, 6 of those are tractors. Most of my tractors are 4x8ftx3ft tall with the nesting boxes hanging on one end but they are towards the top. I move the tractors as needed and have had a dozen in this size pen, but 8 or less works better. You can build a tractor on a little trailer if you got a golfcart. lawn mower, 4 wheeler etc to move it. I built this one several years ago, takes less than 5 minutes to move. I now have a chicken tractor that I have to use my farm tractor to move. Its 10ft x 21ft x 6ft tall chain link dog kennel type panels that has a 5ft x 6ft x 5ft tall coop mounted on a boat trailer frame. It takes about 2 minutes to move it---once I back the tractor up to it. I have 17 chickens in it right now. Its neat to be able to move the big chicken house and the yard to another location in a couple minutes. It has netting across the top to.

[michael ark]

I would say a coop just because life happens and you will need it for the winter. Get what you need then what you want. Congratulations on the farm.

[JLMissouri]

With a properly built chicken tractor a coop is not needed. I wintered over fifty birds through a pretty harsh winter in my chicken tractors. I have raised chickens in conventional coops and several styles of chicken tractors, and I prefer a tractor. My chickens free range unless there is a need to keep them locked up. I move my chicken tractors everyday to fresh ground, a big advantage on keeping healthy chickens.

My chicken tractors are 5' wide and 14' long. I keep about 15-25 birds in the Ultimate Chicken tractor and 10-15 in the Original. For a small amount of birds you can go smaller, but if your not letting them out the bigger the tractor the better for the birds. Since you are building out of wood and are housing a small number of bird I would make it 8' long to get the best use of materials. If you are planning on having raised beds a good idea would be to make your chicken tractor as wide as your raised beds. Then you can put your chickens to work. Or you can make it 4' wide so you can just cut a standard stud in half.

Chickens will nest on the ground, but they do strongly prefer to roost. If you build a home they like you will have fewer problems with birds roosting in places you don't want them, at least if you free range.

[aart]

For those who use tractors year round......how much snow do you get?

Do you move the tractor around all winter or leave it in place?

We got a total of 163" of snow this winter, it's still a good foot deep, frozen solid on the ground in most places....I am very glad to have built my coop inside a large, elevated shed.

[SJSFarm]

JLMissouri, I love the waterer on that last tractor! I'm stealing the idea for mine!

[melissafred]

JLM, love the pics. What wonderful inspiration. Thanks for sharing them.

I definitely want to my girls to work this fall and am figuring out how to do that. My raised beds are going to be 4x10, in pairs of two; 8 beds total. The beds will be enclosed in a picket fence. I initially thought about just letting them free range for a little bit in the garden with me out there to keep watch of an evening and on weekends. However, to maximize their impact on the beds, I think I'm going to put the tractor on each bed for a day or two at the end of the growing season. I also thought about planting cover crops for the winter and letting the girls do their thing in April to prep the beds; I'm still investigating those options. Next summer, my husband wants to plant corn so we'll probably pick out our spot for the corn patch this summer and move the tractor around on that spot this summer and fall then again in the spring when things start greening up.

Thanks so much for all of the input, guys. I come here every evening to read all of the responses. You guys have been wonderfully helpful.

[JLMissouri]

I live in northern Missouri, so I don't get much snow. In bad winters we might have standing snow for a week or two, worst I have seen was two feet. Snow doesn't stay on the ground for more than a week or two before melting. When the snow gets bad my tractors get parked, and I spread wood chips and straw in them.

SJSFarm, steal away. I am happy with that waterer, holds a gallon and will keep the chickens watered for a couple days in summer. My big tractors have automatic waterers with float valves. The nipple waterer is the best invention for keeping chickens since chicken wire.

melissafred, I would make your tractor the same size as your beds. Then your chickens can be put to work. A 4x10 tractor is easy to manage.