Can anyone give me any pointers or point me to any plans for small chicken tractors? Right now I will have just 3 chickens, but may eventually get more so I'd like a little room to grow. How much room does a chicken need for nesting and running? Are there websites available for the novice chicken owner or would I be wise to just purchase a few books?
I've been thinking about raising chickens for some time, but now 3 chicks have been sprung on me for Easter and I need to find some info quick!
Thanks, Dave M
Dave M
Posts: 110 | Location: Mechanicsburg, PA (Zone 6) | Registered: January 03, 2005
Sorry, I don't have anything helpful to say... but that image of "chicken tractors"! :^O I'm thinking chicken-drawn wagons, and chickens in full body casts, and chicken tractor rallies...
That, and I wanted to make sure this one stays up where people will see it.
Something helpful I CAN add: try googling the information using keywords "chicken" and "tractor", and possibly "nest" and "raising" to narrow things down.
The first 10 hits are usually the most relevant. Beware: you may be led down the path of porn. Such websites do crop up under the most innocent and seemingly staid keywords.
*GARDEN JUNKIE* I have three seasons: GROW, *SEW*, and SEED CATALOG! "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." W. Edwards Deming "Stupid priorities." - Alaskan
Posts: 2847 | Location: Southern Ontario, Zone 5 | Registered: October 15, 2002
I have no idea where the name chicken tractors came from.?:| But I do know what they are.
A chicken tractor is a small portable chicken coop with a nest box or two at one end and a small fenced in yard at the other. The whole thing is on wheels. It lets you move the pen around so the chickens have fresh grass, weeds or soil to dig in and can get to a fresh supply of bugs to eat without just being turned loose to run off or be picked off by predators.
There was talk of the chicken tractors in the Mother Earth News magazine and on their web site a while ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LAUS DEO, Where ever I go, there I am. ..... major at nwi dot net ..... Zone 6a, Eastern Washington, sagebrush high desert, Columbia plateau.
Posts: 2521 | Location: Eastern Washington State, zone 6a. | Registered: December 13, 2004
You could try doing what the oldtimers did. They'd have a fixed coop & let eh chickens out in the morning to forage. Then at night they'd call them in & spread a little grain on the floor of the coop. Remember those old movies w/ someone calling, "Chick-chick-chick"? You couldn't do that if your own dogs are the ones picking the chickens off. But, in that event.... I'd chain the dog. I had to do that w/ one of my Dobies when I had chickens. She just knew the only reason I had chickens was for her & I was fur sur gonna let her have 'em one day!
Evil succeeds when good people do nothing. No trees were killed or animals harmed in the sending of this message; however a great many electrons were horribly inconvenienced. Farm's blog: http://allnaturalsimplelife.blogspot.com/
Posts: 578 | Location: SoCal Zone 11. MO Zone 6 | Registered: February 11, 2002
There needs to be a heavy frame low to the ground to keep out predators that will squirm under it or lift it up. And raccoons (that may even be in urban neighborhoods) will reach through the traditional-sized chicken wire and grab the head of the chicken, and that's the end of that.
---------------------- Life goes on within you and without you - George Harrison
Posts: 554 | Location: desperately protecting 2 acres from the critters, coastal California | Registered: February 11, 2002
Congratulations on your entry into the neat world of chickens! I've only been raising them for a few years, but have learned a ton from other folks and from some good publications. One good book is called "Living with Chickens" and covers the basics in a comfortably written style. There used to be a great website called "Backyardchickens.com", but don't seem to be able to get to it anymore. I'm sure there are other poultry support sites... just google til you find one you like.
There are millions of different types of chicken tractors, with no "right" or "wrong" design, but some basics that are necessary. Protection from weather/wind and predeators are the most important. Babies can't be outside until they grow in all their feathers, and must be kept warm until then. 3 chickens won't need much room; a couple square feet per bird is good, and a place to hop up on to sleep (perch). A small doghouse with a fenced in area would suit your family fine to start. Unless you are in the wide open spaces, don't just let them run free; they have a range of 150' or so, and my girls have tested the outer limits, believe me! haha
Other resources for info include many university websites (like Penn State, Univ. of Miss., etc.)that have poultry sciences. A local Agway or Tractor Supply, or feed store is a good source of info also.
Best of luck with them! They are very personable animals and will give you hours of enjoyment just hanging out with them.
My idea of a useful chickens are that they produce eggs, eat bugs and beetles, generate high-N compost, and are easy to deal with. So mine live in a tractor! ~1/2 hour of maintainance / week.
Looks like a camping pup-tent or A-frame with two levels. Mine has an 8'x5' "footprint" with a 3.5' x 8' loft up a ramp two feet above the open floor of the cage. The ends are nearly an equilateral triangle that stand about 5' high. All cedar or plywood (Important: NEVER use CCA-treated wood!! it could kill the chickens!!!). The loft is ventilated yet winter cozy, has nesting boxes and a roost. Could house 6 - 10 chickens with regular maintainance.
Best part is: it is barely movable with one person so that means a family of raccoons can't knock it over. However, it has large wheels that flip down into place allow one end of the tractor to roll. Lift the other end and you are off to the next spot. Any cyclists out there will appreciate the new life for old bicycle wheels: Campagnolo Record hubs with Lace-Ups Rims! What a great retirement for that gear. :^O :^O
The chickens have prepared all the new garden beds for me for 2 years now. I'll post a photo or 2 (can I do that??) or send them directly if you want.
Your posting took me back to 1987 when we got three chicks, raised them in a box on the kitchen counter till they were big enough to go outside, then built them a chicken house in the back yard (fenced) where they slept at night, but hand roaming privileges during the day. They were such lovely little friends! And we had nary a bug anywhere, although they weren't discreet about where they pooped. (Please girls! Just not on the deck!) They liked to roost on the metal window well ledges to the basement windows and watch us watch TV. We were on touching terms--I'd carry them around the back yard under my arm as we surveyed their fine bug work every night. Oh, and the eggs they laid! You can't imagine such flavor!! And real shells! As you can see I loved my girls dearly. Unfortunately the following winter was very cold, and they died tragically in a chicken house fire. (They kicked straw up on their heat lamp.) Good luck to you, and by am I jealous. My DH thought once was a enough...
