The Quest to Design and Build the BEST Chicken Tractor

#diychickencoop #chickentractor

After building many, many mobile chicken coops (aka chicken tractors) and failing, we learned from our mistakes. It led us to design and create the BEST chicken tractor we've built so far.

[melodysfiresidefarm]

I love your husbands attitude "I didn't sign up for that" and then he just plugs away. LOL Ya'll are so nice to watch. Thanks for sharing.

[nwinburn]

Your kids are just on track to becoming amazing human beings!! I wish I had grown up like them!!

[melanieedmonson]

You are the cutest family. I enjoy seeing all of you participate in your homestead dream. You make me smile.

[joyceperkins]

Enjoy all your videos. I would encourage you to look at Sow The Land channels coups. Jason has a wheeled devise on the back that when he’s ready to move the coup he steps on a lever that raises the back end of the coup and engages the wheel. Then he pulls from the front and when he’s done he steps on the lever to disengage the wheel and the coup sits back down on the ground to eliminate the gap. Might be worth investigating for future projects. Best wishes

[lisanowakow]

From what I have seen the Joel Saladin chicken box only really works for Joel himself. I love your mobile coop❣️

[bombdiggitydave]

Plans or a detailed CUT LIST and/or Full materials list would be helpful for those new to chicken tractors. Thanks for the basic vlog overview.

[greenhulk]

For predators I may have a good solution for you and will also help keep rodents out. I added a folding skirt frame that has hardware cloth mesh on each side, front and back. With the hinges all I have to do is fold them up when its time to move the tractor. I anchor them down with heavy duty tent spikes when i fold them down to the ground.

[andrewbaillie]

God Bless you for including your children in the adventure of life.

[angelasprayberry]

You are raising your kids the right way! 😊 very cool!

[papajeff]

Good mantra, “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without”. Fine chicken tractor. The best thing was watching your son…working by himself, independently, tugs on the heart strings.

[sleepymom]

Thank you for sharing your coup progression and experience! You are awesome for encouraging your kids to go and dream big!

[kimbacon]

Wow I really love this design! I love A-frames in general as homes but this blows it out of the park for chicken coops too! A-frames have withstood the test of time for good reason! You really improved on that first design it’s impressive!

[ttocselbag]

“Use it up, wear it out ….” That right there shows having depression era mentality in yer background. 😁

[deedahl]

Yeah, it's a hard lesson when you learn that critters can reach through a one-inch poultry netting hole. You don't have to redo the entire side, just go up about 16-18 inches with the wire mesh from the bottom, on top of the poultry netting. Critters can't reach through from above to get to the chickens. You can use the j-clips to do this, if you figure spacing correctly. GOOD LUCK! You're doing great! oh, and you can put a narrow strip of trim/baseboard over the mesh on the bottom, to sandwich it between the wood and make it more secure.

[sandrarichardson]

This is a terrific video!! Right off the bat it is obvious you guys are not afraid of hard work!!! Like you, I played around with design. Don't know if a couple of things I did will be useful for you folks or not but since you shared some great stuff with me, I'll proceed. I took the big wheels off a push mower---the raise and lower mechanism as well--and installed that on the back corners. My coop is the A-frame shape like yours. They roll really well through rough terrain. In the process of putting on those big rubber tires on the front...like what you have on a hand truck. About 7" high and 3-4" wide solid rubber. Don't want to mess with having to air them up. I want to rig a way for them to be put on a swivel mount. Pulling that thing around through rough ground and high grass can take a long term toll on your 'innards.' Lower the wheels when you start to take off and raise when you get where you're going. That's my only tip other than I had a Houdini chicken that would always manage to get out even on the flattest ground it seemed (there were times I wanted certain chickens confined for a while.) So I took a rod of rebar a little longer than the length of the tractor and a couple of shorter pieces the width. At each corner I drilled holes about 5 inches back from the corner edge of the pen. Slid the rebar through across the ends and sides. Had to wire it up a couple of places on the long sides to hold it in place. But she was not able to get up close enough to the edge of the pen to scratch a hole and get out. This is only if you are wanting to confine them in the bottom portion of the tractor. Thanks for all your trial and error and sharing such terrific methods. You are a gorgeous family in looks and in heart. Jesus bless.
Want to add...I have learned that deer netting zip tied about a foot up from the bottom and flowing out about a foot or so on the ground will tangle a snake up and keep them from getting your chickens/chicks and eggs.

[tom]

Nice builds...love how you've done it. On the wheels, install the lawnmower type wheels with the adjustable brackets...allows you to raise it when moving, and lower all the way to the ground when you're parking it for the night.

[overtonsowncrazymeetscrazy]

Really diggin the reinforced wheel design. I'm going to try imitating that same concept on the exterior portion so any repairs needed can be done from outside the coop. But fantastic concept. When one kid can move the whole tractor without a tool, you're onto something!

[zatch]

I was an intern at polyface farm and when yall were talking about the Salatin shelter I laughed out loud. Yeah I will not be using it on my own farm after pulling those shelters for a months

[raincoast]

That's a really nice coop, i like that the chickens can be locked up in the sleeping area at night.

[yaababby]

Great vid!! We’ve learned as well, don’t throw anything out, quit vanity, aside, and functionality first.