Chicken Tractor...
How many of you have heard about a chicken tractor? If you are not in the know, it is a marvelous idea: a mobile home for chickens that you can move around a yard (large or small), giving your chickens opportunity to range without wandering far off.
We have seventy chickens at the farm. With so many girls, we occasionally get an injured or picked on bird. These girls need a sanctuary away from the pecking order that can become vicious and eventually deadly for a chicken that isn't quite normal. These girls that need a little extra TLC end up in my backyard. If they can rehabilitate they are eventually moved back to the farm. We have a few that can't go back, and they become permanent residents. We have a blind chicken named Helen and a chick with hip dysplasia named Dot. These two girls will stay here forever. I have a small yard, 0.25-acre, and these rehab girls make a marvelous mess of my little plot. We also have a border collie that loves to herd the girls. This isn't usually a problem, unless we have an injured girl that can be herded. (Pippa is a farm dog... she tells me that she is just doing her job, keeping these girls in line!)
The solution to all of these little problems was a chicken tractor. My sweet hubby whipped one up with the help of our little farmhands in a half of a day. It wasn't terribly expensive to make. We used some old material we had hanging around to make it, which cut down on cost considerably. The wheels are from Cal Ranch, and I love that they are red. The top houses a cute little nesting box, accessible by chicken ladder which the girls can easily get up and down. We can easily move it around the yard each day, giving the girls a new area to forage and fertilize. It's also easy to move in and out of the shade as the day progresses, keeping chickens comfortable.
Ours is 5.5-feet long and just under 5-feet wide. It houses four chickens and they seem to be very comfortable. It is easy for one person to move, you just have to reach in and grab the ladder, food, and water before moving. Moving slowly, the chickens just follow along inside. They seem very content in their new mobile home.
There are some great designs online, if you are looking into a tractor, make sure you research design. Something is bound to pop up that you love and that can easily be replicated or modified to suit your needs. We went for a simple and utilitarian design that would be easy to use, and that our boys could help build. I am so excited to finally have this in my yard. I can plant flowers without the chickens eating them to nubs, and it keeps the dogs and chickens at a safe distance.
We have seventy chickens at the farm. With so many girls, we occasionally get an injured or picked on bird. These girls need a sanctuary away from the pecking order that can become vicious and eventually deadly for a chicken that isn't quite normal. These girls that need a little extra TLC end up in my backyard. If they can rehabilitate they are eventually moved back to the farm. We have a few that can't go back, and they become permanent residents. We have a blind chicken named Helen and a chick with hip dysplasia named Dot. These two girls will stay here forever. I have a small yard, 0.25-acre, and these rehab girls make a marvelous mess of my little plot. We also have a border collie that loves to herd the girls. This isn't usually a problem, unless we have an injured girl that can be herded. (Pippa is a farm dog... she tells me that she is just doing her job, keeping these girls in line!)
The solution to all of these little problems was a chicken tractor. My sweet hubby whipped one up with the help of our little farmhands in a half of a day. It wasn't terribly expensive to make. We used some old material we had hanging around to make it, which cut down on cost considerably. The wheels are from Cal Ranch, and I love that they are red. The top houses a cute little nesting box, accessible by chicken ladder which the girls can easily get up and down. We can easily move it around the yard each day, giving the girls a new area to forage and fertilize. It's also easy to move in and out of the shade as the day progresses, keeping chickens comfortable.
Ours is 5.5-feet long and just under 5-feet wide. It houses four chickens and they seem to be very comfortable. It is easy for one person to move, you just have to reach in and grab the ladder, food, and water before moving. Moving slowly, the chickens just follow along inside. They seem very content in their new mobile home.
Repeat offender #84207. Crime: chronic chicken herder.
There are some great designs online, if you are looking into a tractor, make sure you research design. Something is bound to pop up that you love and that can easily be replicated or modified to suit your needs. We went for a simple and utilitarian design that would be easy to use, and that our boys could help build. I am so excited to finally have this in my yard. I can plant flowers without the chickens eating them to nubs, and it keeps the dogs and chickens at a safe distance.
May be simple, it's also quite elegant. Trailer chickens, eh?
ReplyDeleteVery roguish canine you got there.
Trailer chickens... I won't tell you what goes on out there on the weekends!
ReplyDeleteHi Farmgal, I love your chicken tractor design, can you let me know where you got the plans for this from please? I like the way the nest box and pirch is integrated into the house.
ReplyDelete