Building a Mobile Chicken Tractor
Our chickens reached the age and size to be able to survive being moved outdoors finally (for us, this was right at 4 weeks old). The night time temps have been hovering between 55-60 degrees and the birds' feathers have finally started coming in so we felt they'd likely survive (and thrive) with more space to grow before "B" Day (#butcheringday #chickendayofreckoning).
In all our research and YouTubing, we really like the idea of a mobile chicken tractor, first developed by permaculture gardener and chicken rancher extraordinaire, Joel Salatin. The concept behind the design is an enclosed, partially covered structure that is open on the bottom and sits directly on the ground so the chickens have access to fresh grass and bugs as well as chicken feed as they grow and fill out in preparation for harvest. The tractor is moved daily to a new patch of ground, thus providing the birds with a constant supply of new grass to eat and poop on. In turn, the chicken poo fertilizes the soil, making it even more nutrient-dense and ready for planting. Our chickens are on the half of the garden we haven't been able to till since it's been so wet and muddy. After we harvest them, we will till the cover crop we planted last fall, along with all the chicken poo, into the ground and plant a fall garden of various lettuces, spinach, kale, and broccoli. We're excited to see how those plants will grow on this section of ground helped along by the chickens.
When you build a chicken tractor, the size depends mainly on the number of chickens that will live in it. Surprisingly, chickens don't need tons of individual space (they like to be in close quarters to one another, probably for heat?), so if you build a tractor with at least 1 square foot per bird, they'll have plenty of space. Again, we only have six chickens this batch (yes, we've decided we'll do this again before winter) but we will order between 12-15 chicks next time. Rob decided he'd build the tractor based on the next group we order, so the dimensions of our tractor ended up being 4 feet wide x 5 feet long, or 20 square feet of space, which is more than enough room for 15 chickens our next go round. It has a sloped roof that is 36" in the front and 30 inches in the back (so, it has a 6 inch slope).
To construct the tractor, we gathered materials from a bunch of leftover, previously used stuff we had lying around. This included:
We needed access to the inside so, on the top of the coop, he built a door panel that was 4 feet x 2 feet. We attached chicken wire to the door frame and attached it to the top edge of metal roofing with hinges so we could open and close the top and be able to get in and out of the coop to feed and water (or move the chickens inside if it got too cold, which happened a few days after they were moved outside--the weather plunged to 40 degrees so we brought them inside the garage for the night).
The last two items we added to the tractor were made from rope we had. Rob attached a short length of rope to the top edge of the hinged roof and a screw to the front of the tractor so we can tie the lid closed. I have no idea if raccoons are savvy enough to untie a rope (probably?) but so far, so good. The last piece of rope was attached to the bottom front corners of the tractor, essentially forming a harness to move the tractor onto new patches of ground.
As far as the cost of this project, the only items we purchased were the corrugated metal panels and hinges for the lid. We had a rebate from a prior purchase, which paid for the entire project, costing us $0 out of pocket this time! I'm guessing if you had to purchase everything for this project, it would run around $100. Maybe $150? I don't know. I'm horrible at estimating costs of building projects. That's definitely Rob's territory.
And that's it! That's how we built our chicken tractor. You can watch the video of the build below!
In all our research and YouTubing, we really like the idea of a mobile chicken tractor, first developed by permaculture gardener and chicken rancher extraordinaire, Joel Salatin. The concept behind the design is an enclosed, partially covered structure that is open on the bottom and sits directly on the ground so the chickens have access to fresh grass and bugs as well as chicken feed as they grow and fill out in preparation for harvest. The tractor is moved daily to a new patch of ground, thus providing the birds with a constant supply of new grass to eat and poop on. In turn, the chicken poo fertilizes the soil, making it even more nutrient-dense and ready for planting. Our chickens are on the half of the garden we haven't been able to till since it's been so wet and muddy. After we harvest them, we will till the cover crop we planted last fall, along with all the chicken poo, into the ground and plant a fall garden of various lettuces, spinach, kale, and broccoli. We're excited to see how those plants will grow on this section of ground helped along by the chickens.
 |
| Looking into tractor with lid open |
When you build a chicken tractor, the size depends mainly on the number of chickens that will live in it. Surprisingly, chickens don't need tons of individual space (they like to be in close quarters to one another, probably for heat?), so if you build a tractor with at least 1 square foot per bird, they'll have plenty of space. Again, we only have six chickens this batch (yes, we've decided we'll do this again before winter) but we will order between 12-15 chicks next time. Rob decided he'd build the tractor based on the next group we order, so the dimensions of our tractor ended up being 4 feet wide x 5 feet long, or 20 square feet of space, which is more than enough room for 15 chickens our next go round. It has a sloped roof that is 36" in the front and 30 inches in the back (so, it has a 6 inch slope).
To construct the tractor, we gathered materials from a bunch of leftover, previously used stuff we had lying around. This included:
- old pallet wood
- a roll of chicken wire
- a roll of rope
- 2 pieces of 8' corrugated tin (we purchased this)
- 2 hinges for the roof (also purchased)
 |
| Rear (30") third of tractor provides covered shelter |
We needed access to the inside so, on the top of the coop, he built a door panel that was 4 feet x 2 feet. We attached chicken wire to the door frame and attached it to the top edge of metal roofing with hinges so we could open and close the top and be able to get in and out of the coop to feed and water (or move the chickens inside if it got too cold, which happened a few days after they were moved outside--the weather plunged to 40 degrees so we brought them inside the garage for the night).
 |
| Front (36") two-thirds wrapped in chicken wire |
The last two items we added to the tractor were made from rope we had. Rob attached a short length of rope to the top edge of the hinged roof and a screw to the front of the tractor so we can tie the lid closed. I have no idea if raccoons are savvy enough to untie a rope (probably?) but so far, so good. The last piece of rope was attached to the bottom front corners of the tractor, essentially forming a harness to move the tractor onto new patches of ground.
As far as the cost of this project, the only items we purchased were the corrugated metal panels and hinges for the lid. We had a rebate from a prior purchase, which paid for the entire project, costing us $0 out of pocket this time! I'm guessing if you had to purchase everything for this project, it would run around $100. Maybe $150? I don't know. I'm horrible at estimating costs of building projects. That's definitely Rob's territory.
And that's it! That's how we built our chicken tractor. You can watch the video of the build below!
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