In my last post, I
showed how Mark added
a perch to the chicken tractor.  Next, he made a roof out of
aluminum
flashing to cover half of the perch and the whole nest box.  This
layer will make it waterproof and will also reflect some of the hens’
heat back on them during cold nights.  Flashing is cheap and a joy
to work with.  It can be cut with a pair of scissors.



The outer layer is some
scrap carpet that worked out really well on the
other two tractors. It seems to provide a nice layer of
insulation. If you don’t have any scrap carpet handy and you’re not the
type to scrounge for some at the dump then I recommend a section of
that astro turf carpet they use on miniature golf courses.  The
combination of flashing and carpet allows us to leave
our chickens in the tractor all winter.



Stay tuned for the next
installment.  Until then, check out our automatic chicken waterers
that never spill or fill with poop.