The Chicken Tractor for the Meat Chickens...

I have been racing a time deadline these past few weeks.  We have had Cornish X chicks in the brooder house for 3 weeks and I only had 1 week left until they really needed to be out on pasture for the whole pastured poultry aspect of raising naturally raised chicken.  We had them out during the day in the old laying hens pen where there was just a little forage but we really wanted them out and getting more fresh air, sunshine, and getting to feast on bugs and fresh greens like a healthy chicken should.  Problem was I was so busy!  I was having trouble finding the time to get it built.  Note to self: Make sure to have whole set-up ready before chicks arrive!  Because who knew they'd grow THAT fast?!

Here they are at 3 1/2 weeks old!

I was finally able to set aside enough time to build it several afternoons this past week.  The kids and I got started on the schooling earlier than normal and we abbreviated some topics so we could get to the project sooner each afternoon.  Surprisingly it only took 2 afternoons!

It is modeled after the design suggested in Pastured Poultry Profits a book by Joel Salatin.  Salatin is a well respected farmer who is forging the way for small scale farmers world wide.  I have enjoyed reading his literature and gleaning ideas from his thought processes.  My favorite book so far from him is You Can Farm The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed In A Farming Enterprise.  He recommends a chicken tractor that is 10x12 feet but we opted for an 8x8 size because that was the standard wood length for the materials we wanted to use.  Anything longer than an 8 foot 2x2 board starts to look more like a corkscrew than a straight board.

It was made with mainly 2x2s for the uprights, 1x4 boards, and some various bracing, L brackets and many many screws in all different lengths.  We used salvaged metal roofing on the tops for the sheltered area, we used thin plywood materials on the sheltered sides for wind/rain protection.

So here is the finished product.

The front view.  You can see sections of yellow hose on the ropes we use to move it.  The hose is a hand-saver, it is so much easier to hold those ropes with a nice thick hose over it than it is to have ropes digging into your fingers.  The front one we put a hook to keep the handle off the ground and out of the chicken poo as it is moved around.  The top doors are held down with bungee type ropes that are hooked to the same eye-bolt that the handle to move it is tied to.  We have the tractor positioned in our orchard to keep the grass and bugs down around the trees.  It is an area that is about 210' long by 45' wide.  We have the laying hens' tractor positioned along the outside edge of the orchard fence so we will have a nice buffer area around the hay field so the swather operator won't need to try to get too close to fences and irrigation risers.;)

Here is a back view, I was using what I had available that had been salvaged so the back is 3 sections of thin plywood.  The middle one can be removed with about 6 screws to use as a door at some point if we wanted to.  The side is about 2/3 covered with plywood to give the birds somewhere to get out of the wind or the wind driven rain.;)  We also hung a 75watt flood light in that area so we could turn it on for the particularly cool or windy nights as a place for them to huddle and stay warm.

Getting it all set up and ready for the birds.  

We wanted the water bucket secure because we get high winds around here.  The original design showed the bucket sitting on top of the structure but I was afraid as the bucket emptied it would blow off or get jostled when we moved it.  So we dubbed off one corner of the structured opening for the access doors with supports and nested the bucket into the structure a little.  The red dots you see in the bottom of the bucket are what are called nipple waterers.  The chickens have taken to it quickly and it keeps their water more sanitary and prevents them from kicking stuff into the water supply, pooping in it, or knocking it over.  I also like that it doesn't sit on the ground and take up square footage that the birds can forage.  We had to design the door on that side to fit around it.  It turned out to be the perfect placement to fill it easily, and lifting it to that height is easy too!  We purchased a lid for the bucket so that nothing can fall in as well.

Here are a couple more pictures of the bucket water assembly.  You can see on the bottom of the bucket the little nipple fittings they just peck at them a little and the water dribbles out and they quickly figure out that is where water comes from.  I am pleased with this design so far.

Here the chickens are getting used to the new set up.  You can see the light hanging for supplemental heat the first week or two they go out and during storms.  You can also see the long handled feeder they they are all over!

It never takes them long to find the feeder!  Here is the other creep feeder on the one side.

 So far the chickens seem to like the new set-up and are doing well.  We have had a few very windy days and it is staying put and the chickens are using the sheltered corner as planned.  We have 44 chickens in this pen.  We figured in the future we should probably plan to have 42 chickens per 8x8 pen but so far they seem to have plenty of room.  They are still relatively small so we will work on getting another pen built in the next couple weeks.  We have 60 chicks coming this week for 2nd batch and they will need a little more room to spread out when they are older.

This was our prototype and honestly I am not sure I will change much on the next one.  Which is a wonderful sign that this one was a success!