Homemade chicken tractor part I

January 31, 2010 Posts No Comments

Mark’s most recent
chicken tractor is his best one yet, and he also
obsessively documented the construction process to make it easy for you
to repeat it.  This is the
chicken tractor that cost $20 to build.



Chicken tractor constructionThis
animation shows day 1 of the construction process.  Notice that he
starts by making a rectangle out of logs (red cedar this time) just
like he did with his first
chicken tractor. 
This time, he added an additional support beam within the rectangle to
give the tractor more stability.  He notched the logs with the
chainsaw
and also used brackets for attachment.



He wrote:

I feel it’s important to build the nest
box first once you have the
frame together. Place it at least a foot above the ground with a big
enough hatch for easy egg access.

I’ve found that the more comfortable and closed in your nest box is,
the
less your hens are likely to lay an egg on the ground.



Stay tuned for the next
installment of the construction process.  Meanwhile, check out our
homemade chicken
waterer.

This post is part of our Introduction to Chicken Tractors series. 
Read all of the entries:

DIY chicken tractor logs and remesh

January 31, 2010 Posts No Comments

Chicken tractorWe
stumbled into chickens, so Mark made our first three chicken tractors
very quickly to give them a home.  This photo shows his earliest
design which was very cheap and relatively easy to build.



First, Mark cut down
some trees that were encroaching on the garden and used them to make a
rectangular frame for the bottom of the tractor.  He cut a length
of concrete-reinforcing mesh (remesh) to form a hoop, drilling holes in
the base logs to run the ends of the remesh through and attach it into
place.  He framed up a door with smaller branches and covered the
whole thing (except the bottom) with chicken wire.  Inside, he
made a nest box out of an old milk crate and a perch out of another
branch.  Then he covered the back quarter of the tractor with an
old tarp to keep the chickens snug.



Chicken tractor repair

Although it is
functional, this tractor had to be slightly rebuilt three years later
because the logs on the ground started to rot out.  We used
walnut, and in retrospect wish we’d used red
cedar, which is naturally rot-resistant.  Treated lumber or
PVC pipes are another good option if you want to spend a bit more money.



Mark also went in and
added a cover to the nest box.  There’s nothing worse than nice,
fresh eggs getting soaked and muddy, and our hens didn’t much like
laying in the rain either.  As you’ll see, Mark made the nest
boxes in his later tractors even fancier.



While you’re planning
your chicken tractor, don’t forget to add in an automatic chicken waterer — essential to protect
your hens from dehydration which happens when conventional waterers
spill on uneven ground.

This post is part of our Introduction to Chicken Tractors series. 
Read all of the entries:

Chicken tractor doors

January 31, 2010 Posts No Comments

Homemade chicken tractorOur
fourth tractor was based on the simple remesh
and log design of
the first three chicken tractors, but added some new
features.  Most notable were
two additional access doors.



We like to give our
chickens kitchen scraps to supplement the storebought feed and the
plants and insects they get from the ground.  Our girls love the
scraps a bit too much — when I go to dump a bucket of scraps through
our first chicken tractor’s door, the hens mob me and I have a hard
time emptying the bucket.  The new tractor includes a small access
hatch on the top (which you can see on the top right of the
photo).  Now I can dump a bucket of scraps into the tractor
without getting mobbed.



Another problem with the
old tractor was the eggs.  Since the tractor only had one access
door, I had to open it and reach my hand around the corner to get the
eggs.  Our hens often thought I was bringing them more food, which
made it difficult to get to the nest box.



Access door to the nest boxFor
our fourth tractor, Mark created the nest box out of part of a
dryer.  He cut a hole in the back of the dryer to give the hens
access, and left the door against the outside wall so that we can
easily reach in and get the eggs without going through the main part of
the coop.  As an added incentive for laying, Mark cut a picture of
Colonel Sanders off of a take-out bag and glued it to the inside wall
of the nest box.  Just a little reminder to our girls that they
need to lay, or else!



Stay tuned for a
description of our fifth and best chicken tractor.  Meanwhile,
check out our automatic chicken waterer, perfect for use in tractors.

This post is part of our Introduction to Chicken Tractors series. 
Read all of the entries: