tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post8163559350804389238..comments2024-03-23T05:42:07.516-04:00Comments on The Deliberate Agrarian: Talkn’ Bout My Chicken Tractor (Part 2)Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-62537226434894419672014-01-26T01:22:25.025-05:002014-01-26T01:22:25.025-05:00Google black soldier fly larvae bin. You can raise...Google black soldier fly larvae bin. You can raise them with out rotting carcasses. Very neat, and the larvae repel other flies. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-34249206093772925202012-12-30T21:47:53.641-05:002012-12-30T21:47:53.641-05:00I am new to the chicken world and am finding a lot...I am new to the chicken world and am finding a lot of useful info on here, Thanks! I am glad you mentioned in the posts as to why you didn't put wire at the bottom, because I was seriously thinking about doing that because it seemed ideal in keeping predators out. We have a lot of racoons around. <br />Thanks, <br />Liz MLiz Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-13111458534193408102012-02-11T20:58:41.842-05:002012-02-11T20:58:41.842-05:00Herrick,
Just wondering how long the pvc pipes ar...Herrick,<br /><br />Just wondering how long the pvc pipes are? This looks like a great plan and we're going to build one this week.<br />Thanks for some great posts!<br />Dave, Thunder Bay, OntarioD Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06840642129533001693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-84547365673225320432011-10-08T18:33:58.461-04:002011-10-08T18:33:58.461-04:00Do you mind telling us how you have the 5 gallon b...Do you mind telling us how you have the 5 gallon bucket supported?<br />Thanks!Beverlynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-73613737895657243712011-08-14T13:32:30.500-04:002011-08-14T13:32:30.500-04:00sib,
I'd love to see pics of your completed h...sib,<br /><br />I'd love to see pics of your completed hoop tractor. Send to: hckimball@bci.netHerrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-7097617980769338252011-08-14T12:59:48.802-04:002011-08-14T12:59:48.802-04:00We are starting construction this week. We spent t...We are starting construction this week. We spent the last little bit scrounging parts and redesigning to make it as much re-purposed material as possible. So far all i've had to buy are the brackets and PVC pipe. we have the lumber and some fencing laying that we can use as well as the small hardware we'll need. As for feeders i think i will just make tripods for my hanging feeder/water to hang from. should be no big deal to move them that way and they wont be able to roost on them. As for the size, we have a 23 acre farm so that's not an issue and we have 30ish turkeys that need to be contained in the worst way. We'll still let them out, but for the times we cant watch them and at night, in they will go! I can send you photos when we're done if you like?<br />Thanks<br />sibAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-50665469774635983502011-07-25T21:29:59.924-04:002011-07-25T21:29:59.924-04:00Anonymous-
I see no reason why you couldn't em...Anonymous-<br />I see no reason why you couldn't employ the same basic idea and "supersize" my basic chicken tractor design. Mine is the size it is because I don't have a lot of chickens, a lot of space, or a tractor. It is a size that I can manage to move by hand with relative ease. I have employed the tractor to raise turkeys, though not a lot of them in each tractor. I have a blog post about the turkeys in tractors somewhere. <br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Herrick KimballHerrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-27270696507285385992011-07-25T10:55:57.898-04:002011-07-25T10:55:57.898-04:00Thanks again for another helpful and idea inspirin...Thanks again for another helpful and idea inspiring entry. We have been looking to make some sort of hoop tractor for our birds for a bit. We tried the a frame (and though it looks nice, its rather limited and heavy, so a hoop would be perfect. A question on sizing though. Is there a reason you didn't go bigger? We have a bunch of turkeys to contain and were leaning towards something more like 10 x 20. we have a small sllooowww tractor that should be able to move something like that just fine. Any thoughts?<br />thanks<br />SibAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-35456477322544894172010-06-22T11:55:15.996-04:002010-06-22T11:55:15.996-04:00I have one question about the tractor. We are get...I have one question about the tractor. We are getting ready to build one. We have about the same size property as you, just over 1 and 3/4 acre. Currently our birds are in a fenced area and go into the coop at night. This spring has been so wet. Do your chickens sleep on the ground at night? What happens if it rains alot? Can an area under cover have a raised floor or something like that? What would happen if the ground was soggy all the time and they didn't have anywhere to get away from it? By the way I love your blog and all the wonderful info. It is awesome.Elizabethwilliamswriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01741237481835703350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-46869197906771456802010-04-21T11:33:19.249-04:002010-04-21T11:33:19.249-04:00Anonymous,
I have used the chicken tractors for eg...Anonymous,<br />I have used the chicken tractors for egg layers. Provide a nesting box or two off the ground on the plywood end. You can even have an open & shut door for access to the eggs from the outside.<br /><br />Jim_<br />Good to hear from you. I must confess that I have not tried the maggot feeding method yet. Our space here is so small (I am raising chickens mostly on the lawn around my house) and we're thinking we'd rather not endure the smell of a rotting, maggot-infested woodchuck. perhaps when I get some more land, the idea will be more acceptable, especially to my wife. :-)Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-49467973895360950382010-04-21T11:24:30.492-04:002010-04-21T11:24:30.492-04:00Hi Dave,
Both ends can certainly be covered with ...Hi Dave,<br /><br />Both ends can certainly be covered with plywood. The reason I didn't do this i, as you say, to save money, but also to keep the structure as light as possible. <br /><br />There is no bottom in these chicken tractors. I've heard of people putting a wire bottom in their tractors but it is very rare. The wire would hinder the chickens from scratching and getting food.<br /><br />There are times, especially when the birds are small, that a few will sneak out under the edges when the tractor is moved. It takes some finesse on the part of the mover to manage esacpes.<br /><br />Thanks for the questions. Best wishes with the project.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-56938803321867952782010-04-21T10:36:18.100-04:002010-04-21T10:36:18.100-04:00Herrick,
Thank you for all the information you pos...Herrick,<br />Thank you for all the information you posted on your chicken tractor. It is very helpful. My son is a landscaper/CSA farmer in Southern Illinois and just started raising chickens. He has layers and just purchased his first "flock" of meatbirds. Of his many talents, one he lacks (and he will admit) is carpentry skills. So Dad is building the chicken tractor. He really likes your hoop tractor design (with the CSA he has one large hoop house and will be building another this year for his vegetables/produce). A couple questions I had about your design before I start: Was there a reason (and maybe I overlooked it) for not enclosing both ends with plywood? I know the cost would be more but I was thinking by doing so you could then pull the tarp from one to the other covering the entire tractor and elinimating the preditors actually seeing the birds. Forgive me if this next question seems odd but we are new at this, do chicken tractors have a wire bottom in them? I know you wouldn't be picking the tractor up high enough for the chickens to escape so they would basiclly be moved with the tractor. Thank you again Herrick for your posts, being a baby boomer from the country I grew up around farming/livestock where people depended on a cow/pig/chickens to feed their family. Being raised on "homeground and homecooking" is something the majority of our kids nowadays sadly miss out on. take care, ShooterUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00309408588772609698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-12801394625179968982010-04-18T23:26:07.477-04:002010-04-18T23:26:07.477-04:00Herrick, Jim here from Ontario Canada. loving all...Herrick, Jim here from Ontario Canada. loving all of your postings! How have the Maggots worked for you? I have kept layers for a few years and meat birds only one season. I will be building a tractor soon. Thanks for all of your information! God bless you brother!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02335761026316748603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-83633892292405326622010-02-13T15:38:34.577-05:002010-02-13T15:38:34.577-05:00Do you put egg layers in these tractors as well? I...Do you put egg layers in these tractors as well? If so do you just put in a nesting area with access?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-67283050732215783112010-01-27T07:11:54.922-05:002010-01-27T07:11:54.922-05:00Andrea,
If you use the cheap plastic tarps, they ...Andrea,<br /><br />If you use the cheap plastic tarps, they will weather out in a year. If you use a slightly more expensive plastic tarp (like shown in the photos above) they will wear out in a couple of years. If you buy an expensive pvc-impregnated canvas tarp (like truckers use to cover a load of hay), it will last you more than ten years. I know this because I have used such tarps on other chicken tractors. <br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Herrick KimballHerrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-42714570037177181862010-01-19T19:09:07.597-05:002010-01-19T19:09:07.597-05:00Hello,
I was wondering if your tarps wear out? I ...Hello,<br /><br />I was wondering if your tarps wear out? I have a haystack that we tarp and we have to replace them every year, so I don't want to have to spend that much money on the tarps for the chicken tractor every year. <br /><br />Thanks for all your info!<br /><br />AndreaAndreanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-15759289854153976402009-10-04T21:58:01.164-04:002009-10-04T21:58:01.164-04:00No wheels here and I am an old lady. I use a furn...No wheels here and I am an old lady. I use a furniture dolly to move my tractor around. Just slip it under, lift (a little otherwise I get escapees), and pull. If it is in high grass my neighbor lady helps me with another dolly on the other end. Raccoons aren't my problem here so much as possums. As I tell my granddaughters; anything with hands can steal. Those buggers have four hands! Possums are smarter than raccoons and more daring. Once had a baby duck taken out of a dog cage .. through the wire! The same gal even tried to steal a eight pound file box of cat food. She went to heaven. But, so far no varmit has gotten into my tractor. They go after my lone ducks. I just quit keeping ducks. Didn't like eating them anyways.<br />Rustyoldma@yahoo.com<br />NE Ohio<br />BTW, Thanks for teaching me everything I've been doing wrong in butchering chickens, specially necks. Too many times I've cooked up a roast and found I missed the lungs ... yuck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-17220414386866010522009-03-15T17:36:00.000-04:002009-03-15T17:36:00.000-04:00I love chicken tractors. I built one just like th...I love chicken tractors. I built one just like the one in the Chicken Tractor book, but it is heavy and hard to move around because the end drags against the ground. Also, the huge lid allows birds to escape if they choose when you open it, and being 3' high it's too deep to reach down into comfortably and too short to get into to work in comfortably. I built a second one the same footprint (4 x 10 I think? maybe 4 x 12) but only 18" high plus another 18" high covering 1/3 of one end, with roosts and a nest box. At least when I opened the lid the birds would run under the high part instead of flying out, but if I needed to catch them I had to squat way down and close the lid over me, crawling through the poop to get at them under the high part :-D <BR/><BR/>My last two hoop coops have been built along the style of Robert Plamondon www.plamondon.com/hoop-coop.html. Approx. 9 x 9 and 6' tall, very sturdy using cattle panels as the hoops and best of all you can walk in without stooping. In the winter I put them up on a foundation of straw bales and butt them up against the small shed that used to be my only chicken house, thus tripling their previous winter area. I got that idea from http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/, under his "favorite posts" look at Winter Chicken Coop, Chicken Sunroom, and Wire Hoop Coop. (The internet is a wonderful thing!) We had very heavy snows the past two winters, and though the panels will bow way down under the snow load, they spring right back up again when the snow is dragged off them.<BR/><BR/>Cattle panel price has gone up considerably, thank goodness I still have a few left because I want to build two more. They are heavy but a little easier to drag than the original tractor because the end boards are raised slightly off the ground, which turns the side boards into skids. Instead of doing it Robert's way with the frame boards all on their narrow sides and notched at the ends to fit together, I just lay the side boards flat and the front/back boards on their narrow sides, which has the same effect of leaving a 1-1/2" gap front and back making it easier to drag.<BR/><BR/>I asked on a poultry message board about pluckers for the small home user and rec'd numerous replies that yours was the best. I just ordered both plucker and scalder books and look forward to building them, or making my husband do it if it's beyond my extremely limited crafstmanship :-D<BR/><BR/>Karen B in northern Idaho, where it seems like winter will never end this yearAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-66704984800475787802008-05-17T15:09:00.000-04:002008-05-17T15:09:00.000-04:00David,The Cornish X meat birds are not big on roos...David,<BR/><BR/>The Cornish X meat birds are not big on roosting once they get a little age on them. If I had egg layers in the cage I would provide roosts.<BR/><BR/>Bernadette,<BR/>There are plenty of coons hereabouts. If one of them (or a coyote) really wanted to get through the chicken wire, I'm sure it could. But it would not be an easy thing do do. Chicken wire is tough stuff. It's been used for a long, long time to keep predators out. It's not likely that a coon is going to go to the trouble. There are easier sources of food in the wild. What is more likely is that a weasle or mink or rat may get under the bottom of the frame if there is a little space. That is what we have had happen. <BR/><BR/>The dog is good to have but not necessary. Our dog is not always out there at night.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-62971975581165849082008-05-17T13:55:00.000-04:002008-05-17T13:55:00.000-04:00Hi. Thanks for sharing. I am admiring your design...Hi. Thanks for sharing. I am admiring your design, but am concerned about predators... especially of the coon variety. Does that vinyl coated chicken wire prevent them? I've heard they can rip right through chicken wire if they are motivated... and I'd hate to lose my babies to the coons and coyotes that patrol our area at night! <BR/><BR/>I seem to recall one of your other blogs mentioning a dog... for those of us who are dog-less, does your design afford enough predator protection? or would we need something more heavy duty? <BR/><BR/>Thanks,<BR/>BernadetteBernadettexyzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427716480960651694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-20185209379548392182008-03-26T18:31:00.000-04:002008-03-26T18:31:00.000-04:00Herrick,At night you lower the tarp on both sides ...Herrick,<BR/><BR/>At night you lower the tarp on both sides making--if I have my math right-- a three(?)-sided shelter.<BR/><BR/>If I'm a raccoon and I can still SEE chickens in there, it seems that's only going to strengthen my infamously diabolical coon resolve.<BR/><BR/>And I don't see any "roosts" either! <BR/><BR/>All the reading I've done trying to get up the guts to build an actual "coop" places high marks on at least half of them having a place to sit.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I'm confusing layers with broilers... How long are your chickens in this contraption?<BR/><BR/>Thanks! Love the blog. You didn't have to share, but you did.<BR/>--<BR/>DavidDNinWIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02713517368586921911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-30277071802602604522008-02-04T01:31:00.000-05:002008-02-04T01:31:00.000-05:00I cant clearly see how the top brace is attached t...I cant clearly see how the top brace is attached to the ends. I have 2 very similar coops I built that are simply a rectangle of wood on the ground, and I used old field fencing for the hoop, no braces of any kind. maybe 6x8? I cut end pieces (including hinged door) out of the fencing and wired them all together. I have one 1x2 that goes from bottom to top on each end, but slanted, not straight up and down, and attach straight to the wire. very sturdy, but not around the bottom. my problem, is I cant figure out how to put the end pieces together, or fit the wood together at the top so they are sturdy enough to be moved regularly. I have a hard enough time building a good square or rectangle..alas, although I try, I am just not construction inclined. on a positive not, I can say, the only cost was the roll of 6mil opaque window plastic I used to cover it. everything else was scrap I had lying around.<BR/>anyway, could you post a close up of the 2 ends, inside and out so I can see how it all attaches? <BR/><BR/>also, I am more interested in using these for layers rather than meat birds. what do you think would be the space requirements for them?<BR/>thanks<BR/>amandaUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02304013858012750939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-52532992071108163452007-12-24T18:55:00.000-05:002007-12-24T18:55:00.000-05:00Hello Herrick,I'm interested in duplicating your t...Hello Herrick,<BR/><BR/>I'm interested in duplicating your tractor design for myself. It isn't a complicated design, but I was wondering if you would ever be willing to make plans availible for others to follow.<BR/><BR/>As an aside, I used your picker book and parts from your workshop to build by own picker. It works great! Thanks very much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-35564338307691677642007-11-05T05:39:00.000-05:002007-11-05T05:39:00.000-05:00aquismoney--I believe they were 10ft from the stor...aquismoney--<BR/>I believe they were 10ft from the store and I cut them a little shorter in order to match the curve of the plywood end, which I cut out and nailed in place prior to putting the hoops on.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-8591501166757369502007-11-04T21:54:00.000-05:002007-11-04T21:54:00.000-05:00What is the length of the ¾" pvc pipe?What is the length of the ¾" pvc pipe?aquismoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10399564594346219085noreply@blogger.com