Chicken Tractor

Chickens enjoying bug brunch

Baby chicks exploring their new coop

Chickens are around the most enjoyable creatures that you can have. They require little attention, are inquisitive and personable, and add a lot of character to your aquaponic garden.

Although not directly part of the system, they are an integral part of our overall sustainability effort. We enjoy their company so much that we put a table and chairs out in the yard so we can sit with them in the afternoon.

Fresh eggs 

Maybe have a glass of wine and share some blueberries with them before dinner. Our rabbits share the same common area with them but are not nearly so engaging.

Our chickens split their time between a fenced enclosure, with the rabbits and a chicken tractor. The tractor is a combination mobile coop and secure yard on wheels that allow you to move the chickens to fresh pasture every couple of days. You can really taste the difference in the eggs when the chickens get all those fresh greens and bugs in their diet.

Here are some images of the chicken tractor that I put together for our small flock. It is light weight and strong. It is the same construction technique as the arch frame greenhouse only smaller. Attached to that light weight frame is 1/2" hardware cloth covered with a 6oz white tarp.

Chicken tractor under a shade tree

The tarp covers the top for shade and extends down around one end to the ground the keep the feed dry during rainstorms. I can wheel this one around the yard with one hand. This is not my first attempt at constructing a tractor. My first one was a 2x4 and sheet metal affair that moved more tank like than tractor. It must of weighed 150 lbs While I was building this one I put a black soldier fly compost box in the coop area so that I can load up the kitchen scrapes into it once a week or so and the finished larva drop down the chute into a feed tray. One less thing for me to do. I keep a regular feed dispenser in the coop but they chickens much prefer the fresh greens and bugs. The coop and nest boxes are upstairs with the feed and scratch area down below.

The whole thing weighs about 50 pounds. So not so bad to move around the yard. The wheels are removable, so once it's where you want it they come off and the tractor sits flat on the ground. This helps to keep the predators out. I stapled a small, bunched up, rope of bird netting around the bottom edge to make a 'snake stop' gasket. It's loose enough that it expands into any holes that may be in the ground around the base. When the birds are small like these guys the king and indigo snakes will try and slips for a quick snack. Once they're full size that's not so much of a problem. If this tractor looks like something you may want, we are working on a video on the construction process that will be on our web site www.shamrockaquaponicfarm.com soon.  Mat