i don't know nuthin' 'bout tractors but I love my girls! I keep 6 hens--since last fall. They are my buddies. I let them free range when I am not growing otherwise they eat and dig up everything green.
Lots of eggs, though. Do you know how long a covered bin of chicken poop mixed with the bedding--wood shavings--needs to sit before I can till it in my raised bed?

Wow, neat. I had no idea what a chicken tractor was. I thought the title was yanking our chains.

Welcome to the OG boards, chickmom! :^O I've got chooks, too. A mixed-breed flock right now, but I hope to start in with Blue Jersey Giants and some Asiatics (Bramas, Cochins, or Langshans) sometime soon. Do you have a specific favorite breed, and what is your flock made up of?
Out of curiosity, are you an AOL user? Because I tried http://www.backyardchickens.com/, and it came up just fine for me. (I used to use AOL, and it gave me fits over certain sites, too.) Another very useful site for chicken info is http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html. I believe they have some portable ideas under the "coop" link, as well as lots of other information, and and extensive listing of many different breeds, with links to breed clubs in many cases.

I had also wanted to mention that in everything I've read, lightweight materials are generally used for framing for portability's sake. My suggestion would be to use several tent stakes to keep the chicken tractor pegged in place, rather than making it too heavy and hard to move.

Do you have a pic posted anywhere? I'd love to see it.
:8}

Dave, what did you decide and how is it working?

I didn't end up doing a whole lot of research... just got an idea in my head and started building so for all I know it's way out there as far as chicken tractors go. I saw a lot of people had some type of tent or something similar that housed the chickens and was easily moved. I built a small coop (about 4x6) that's about 3.5 feet tall using lumber. Attached to it on one end is a 4x6 run that is enclosed in chicken wire. The coop has a lift up roof for access to the eggs, and the run area also has access via a door. One end is on wheels and the other end has long wheelbarrow handles so I can just pick it up and roll it to the next area like a giant wheelbarrow. It ended up being a lot heavier and more expensive than I had originally envisioned, so if I had to do it all over again I'd probably scale it down a little bit or use smaller lumber.

I'll post pics of it when I get it finished. I'm almost done, I just have to install the wheels and handles and finish staining it. I'm staining it to match our storage shed in the back yard so it blends in a little.

Dave,
I have found that making a chicken tractor the same size as my planting beds works well. I can then place it over my beds before they are planted (or after they are harvested. It cleans up the bugs, weeds and insect larvae while providing high-nitrogen fertilizer and "tilling" the top few inches. I have found, however, that egg breeds work better than meat breeds--they seem to scratch better and they need to be several months old before they work well. I simply cover mine with sheets of fiberglass to keep the feathered friends out of the weather. We don't have racoons to worry about, however. Good luck!
Don

I am not sure with a covered bin - - my piles of coop litter take about 3-6 months to cool down enough to use in the garden, depending on the weather. If it is wet and summer (from the end of April thru early November), 3 months, max. If it is drought conditions, or winter, more like 6 months. That is with letting it sit and rot. I imagine if you turn it, it will decompose very quickly. I've used it as a jump-start for my compostumbler, and if I turn it every day, (and have enough greens and browns), I can have finished compost in about 4-6 weeks.

If you want it to decompose more quickly, I'd add a couple shovelfuls of bioactive dirt from the bottom of your compost heap, and turn it frequently. I've also seen where people use perforated pvc pipe stuck down in chicken manure piles to aerate the piles and they decompose much more quickly.

I guess the length of time it'd need to sit on its own would depend upon where you live, average humidity, and average temperatures. Give your "bugs" conditions where they are happy, and you will have useable ammendments for your beds more quickly.

The pile has been sitting in a wood pallet bin with black plastic over it since last fall--about 6 months.
I haven't turned it at all and it is moist and kind of fluffy. What do you think?

Dave, sounds good! Yes, please let us know when you get your pics up. And although heavy might be a bit of a struggle, I think it's better in the long run. Would more wheels make it easier?

I'd think in 6 months, it should be good to go. Especially if you are going to till it in. I personally would use it, in a heartbeat.

Perhaps you could post again, and ask Capt. Compost? I bet he'd know.