Posted: 5/21/2012 6:44:02 AM EDT
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I've posted some pictures in a different thread here regarding chickens but I since I finally got my "chicken tractor" finished I thought I'd make my own thread for that. I chicken tractor is basically a mobile chicken coop, since my yard slopes heavily and I have some construction planned I decided to build a tractor instead of something I wouldn't be able to move. I used an old boat trailer converted into a flat trailer, as the basis for my tractor. I use the thing for moving limbs and debris around the property and pull it with my ATV, its not really road worthy so I'm not out much using it for this either. I built the coop separate but small enough to fit tightly onto the trailer, I used several pieces of 1 1/2 x 1/8th inch angle iron with holes drilled into it as anchor plates to hold the coop onto the 2x6 wooden deck on the trailer, the trailer is 4'x8'. I used scrap wood and roofing etc for the coop itself, Ive still got to put some laying boxes in the box but there's no rush on that. I also painted the inside of the box and put a litter tray in there so it would be easy to clean. Here's the trailer:  Here's the coop   I gave it a good coat of latex exterior paint and a metal roof, the big end is actually a door so you can go inside, the feeder and waterer will hang from J hooks underneath the box.  I'm planning on 4 chickens in here, there's two now:     |
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Quoted: What keeps it from popping up when you step on the back to enter the coop? TRG The bricks im going to put under there when I get home  I just finished it up and put the birds in at dark last night, snapped these pics on the way to work this am. Ive still got a couple things to do, getting it on blocks is one of them so its more stable and easier on the tires. It wont be moved around that much so it can be blocked up most of the time. |
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I'm trying to wrap my head around the purpose of your tractor. I've always understood that the 3 purposes of a chicken tractor is to 1. be able to move the coop around (mission accomplished) , 2. give the chickens access to new areas to scratch and feed on forage (mission defeated intentionally it appears), and 3 allow you to have the "best of both worlds" with sort of free-range chickens that are kept safely in a coop from predators.
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Quoted: I'm trying to wrap my head around the purpose of your tractor. I've always understood that the 3 purposes of a chicken tractor is to 1. be able to move the coop around (mission accomplished) , 2. give the chickens access to new areas to scratch and feed on forage (mission defeated intentionally it appears), and 3 allow you to have the "best of both worlds" with sort of free-range chickens that are kept safely in a coop from predators. For now the biggest thing is to have it easy for me to move, I can slide the coop on and off the trailer without to much trouble if I want to let it stay somewhere for a little bit. The only flat spots on my property are either right next to my house (no-go for that) or down close to the edge of the woods a good 125' or more away. Down by the woods is pretty much a death sentence based on the number of snakes, possums, coons, yotes, cats and foxes I have around, I don't think the wire would keep out a determined yote. We are planning on feeding them from from a feeder/waterer and then free ranging them in the yard, during the day and supervised, as time allows during the week and on the weekends. It's kind of a funky setup but its great for my yard , I planning on putting a 22x50 or so garage in the back and a driveway around to it so anything permanent would have to be torn down when that happens. I was going to build one of those triangle tractor/coops but then ended up just using what I had around the house for parts, the only thing I actually had to go buy for this was the two "screen door latches" to hold the door shut, cost me about two bucks, everything else was already here. Sadly for my wife she thought we were going to let them free range all the time until I explained to her that chickens are the "tater chips" of the woods and they'd be eaten in short order if left alone for a few days. |