The Quest to Design and Build the BEST Chicken Tractor
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- Опубліковано 17 вер 2021
- #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.
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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.
He has no other option 😂😂😂
Your kids are just on track to becoming amazing human beings!! I wish I had grown up like them!!
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.
Yeah. I'm trying to watch the video over and over again to see how to put it all together 😬
Same boat as you lol
@@byzantinex Have you had any luck figuring it out?
@@tammyb6244 I built a different style. I posted a video on my channel
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.
Thank you for the idea! I was wondering how to incorporate that into a tractor. Can you explain it more in-depth?
Thank you for sharing your coup progression and experience! You are awesome for encouraging your kids to go and dream big!
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
From what I have seen the Joel Saladin chicken box only really works for Joel himself. I love your mobile coop❣️
Agreed. With a few modifications his would work better. We here are having almost nightly discussions on how to adapt Joels to fit our needs better. It's telling when the kids actually look forward to moving the coop on wheels, but loathe moving the "chicken box", lol
You are the cutest family. I enjoy seeing all of you participate in your homestead dream. You make me smile.
Thank you so much! Definitely a lot of work but yes, definitely a dream too! We are grateful!!
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.
Great video I was working on a A frame design for our chickens and came across your video I was going to add wheels to outside but after watching your and how you did your wheels I'm going to go with that idea it will be stronger that way .thanks for great video
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!
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.
God Bless you for including your children in the adventure of life.
I love how your kids are so involved!
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!
Great pen! Thank you for sharing I have some good ideas to run with now
You are raising your kids the right way! 😊 very cool!
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I love your husbands coop plan! We ended up putting wheels on our tractor run as well because it was just too difficult to move without them!
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.
We are going to follow this design. Thanks!!
Ohh Lord, I am already loving you guys. You are so sweet and real. It's my first time in your channel, I have subscribed and hit the notification bell. I'll never miss any of your videos dear ones.
💕 love the design! 💕Love your kids more!!! Sweetest little one at end with holding the rooster and hen!!! 💕
Love the presentation and the Tractor. Best design I've seen so far.
That's a really nice coop, i like that the chickens can be locked up in the sleeping area at night.
Impressive innovations! Thanks.
Your coup/tractor is AWESOME! I would love more info on the wheels that you used.
Definitely works well. Great vid! Thanks for sharing your ideas
Nice!
I will need to copy this.
Awesome job on the A frame! I am looking to build one soon do you happen to have a plan written up and or a product list/cut list?
Would love to use this same design.
Yes! A cut list would be amazing. Agreed.
@@aarontoholsky6679 Try Ana White free coop plan on the web and scale it. My carpenter watched this video and we made 3 meters long, 1,5 metre wide, 1,8 meters height. Other dimensions were decided on the field, but have enough lumber and osb on one side, others will come step by step.
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.
Has anybody done this so that we can see how it works?
That's pretty slick. Thanks!
Great coop. It does take longer than expected to finish a few projects. Experiencing this problem myself
Just subscribed! Started to binge watch your videos! Thank you I’m learning so much! Just a ideia for the chicken cop door, you could attach a “leg” so when you open it to collect the eggs you could put a basket on top of the door.
"leg" could be designed for multiple locking positions......one for flat area for basket and also another extended position to ground to make the ramp less steep for the chickens to enter/exit.
I would love to see plans!
Great vid!! We’ve learned as well, don’t throw anything out, quit vanity, aside, and functionality first.
This is so helpful! So do you let them just “free range” in the coop or do you move them around with that electric fencing?
Very nice!!
Nice video! Thanks for sharing
Your LOFT design is really great to hold a small flock. I'm looking at putting a piece of roofing tin along the bottom of my run to keep animals from scratching the wire and other damage, doubles as a wind break. The latches, you may need a common hasp with a snap to secure them.. I'm getting straight run chicks in a few months and will need more coop areas to select 2-3 roosters for my operation.
Good stuff! Appreciate y’all sharing your experience & knowledge!!! Just one thing I learned over time is that paint or water sealer is a must if you want your wood projects to last! Keep up the good work! Sending love & prosperity from my family to yours!!!
I like your design thanks Glenn
Very cool! That is exactly what I’m looking for
Thank you for watching, and enjoying!
I want to build something like this to use for my hens in the summer. I have a stationary coop for the rest of the year. I don’t think I’ll have the interior door though. Just roosting polls across from one side to the other, and a nesting box in the back.
Incredible work you guys! My wife and I are building a small mini-farm out in Columbia, TN.
We'll be iterating this build, just a bit smaller for 3-6 chickens.
Thanks for the awesome video, and what a beautiful spread!
New subscriber here. :)
I love this design. I would love to know what you do to winterize your coop.
Great build. A few observations and suggestions. The floor inside the coop-since you mentioned that you move the chickens out of the coop into a warmer area during winters, to reduce the weight, maybe use 1” hardware cloth. That would also reduce the amount of work needed to clean the coop. If you continue to use wheels and therefore have a small gap under the bottom frame, I’ve seen guys run 12-15 inches of hardware cloth on the ground around the outside perimeter of the frame to deter predators from digging. I’ve seen guys mount the hardware cloth to the frame so that is swings up and down like a hinge to make moving the coop easier. Also, if you decide to stop using wheels and instead make the long ends of the bottom frame like skids, maybe attach strips of HDPE plastic (same as the Yard Glider) on the bottom of it so that it glides across the ground easier. Just my 2 cents. Dave
I make a frames from old pallets. Put 2 2x8s on the back end sticking out a few feet. Makes em way easier to move. I use an old hand truck to move em around. Mine are HEAVY, I use the boards as roofing.
I am going to start building this today, thank you guys. You all are my favorite homestead family. How do you get your children to help? And in my case my wife too.
Love the design. Would love the blue prints of that.
There's kids so discipline and hardworking
If you put a two foot mesh wire around each side the varmints can’t get in use a fencing nail to put the pieces on. Then you can swivel it up and tie it before moving it.
Good job!)
Hi family, dude, we like your A frame chicken tractor, I think I'll build one a little larger. I'll use the wheel design with larger air tires. Also wanted to share with you your latch locks. Make all latches to lock when they drop. If the latch unlocks when it drops, raccoons will figure it out fast. Just wanted to share what I've learned.
Good points. We will likely be converting to air tires soon on out coops. Continual improvement, right?!? And the latch tip...that's a good one. I like your attention to detail.
Yep, I Analyze everything from one side to another. Build my own toys either out of wood or weld it. Putting a sawmill together as soon as my roof is done. Well roof isn't down, 🤪 still isn't done but trying to work on it though I nearly slide off because of humidity and sweat. 🥵
I love this design and saved the video too watch with my husband as we are going to be building one later this summer. I saw in another video you guys have built more did you make any changes or are you guys loving this still? My only thing I would change is maybe put wire on the bottom of the coop part so I don't have to clean it out.?.
Can you share your plans for this coop? I love it! I’m doing chickens this spring, but never done any before! So would love the plans!
I like that they’re protected at night. Also - how many chickens could I put in this? I’m looking to get a dozen. Thank u!
“Use it up, wear it out ….” That right there shows having depression era mentality in yer background. 😁
Real neat!
I like it! I just retired so I know what my next project is going to be!
one of the best growing vegetable youtube channels. 👍
So nice of you. We try hard to put out quality videos, so that means a lot!
Awesome!
love y’alls videos! 😍 they are so encouraging!! how do y’all keep snakes out? we want chickens but that’s our main concern because we’ve been seeing a lot of snakes around our property lately…
Thank you! We have lots of snakes too. One of my boys got bit by a copperhead in my garden a few years back! 😬 But more often we see black rat snakes. They have never bothered the chickens or the eggs. With our new coop design there is no chance of a medium to large size snake getting in the top coop area when it’s all closed.
nice design. I like the wheels. I would install an auto chicken door.. Any issues with predators during the day, trying to get in under the coup frame? I'm planning to build a cattle panel hoop coup, and am debating on using hardware cloth around the outside of the bottom to discourage digging predators.... I guess to be mobile that would be very difficult...
What are the dimensions for the new coop? And how many birds would you put in there?
The bottom of it is 6x10ft. We will put 5-8 birds in each coop. Right now we have about 12 in there until we can get the next chicken tractor built and space them out properly.
I saw a coop made out of an old horse trailer. it looked great and it can be moved.
Yes, those work too! We like this coop style we built as the kids (even our 7 year old) can move it by herself. Horse trailers typically need a hitch on a truck or side by side to assist the move.
Nice design! Hardware cloth!! Yes!!! That is all we ever use. Question, with freezing temperatures, how do your chickens do in that coop. Just wondering about how thermal it is for them. Again, great design, love it.
I’m in the same boat…ordered 5 different breeds of chickens in December with thoughts that I would have plenty of time to build 5 A frame tractors. Chicks arrived in April and I still haven’t built a single tractor 🤦🏼♂️😂
Another way to do it is rooster pen, hen pen, and breed pen. Each set of hens from the breed pen would stay fertile about 2 weeks. You would also have to be able to tell each breed's eggs apart. Also the breed pen might be a stationary pen and shelter, which means you just need the 2 tractors. Roos get along a lot better in a group if allowed to free range, if you are able to let them out sometimes. If you raised the whole flock together it might work.
Great design for a mobile chicken coop! Should work great for your kids and their plan to make money selling chicks.
You said about things taking 3 to 4 times longer than they should. Try having to do everything by yourself. That's the way it is at my place. I'll admit, it has caused me to be more creative at doing things. I have a daughter and son-in-law just up the road from me, but they're always too busy to give me a hand. ☹
That’s a great coop. I would make a longer pull handle.l though. Or maybe if your me feeling fancy a longer, detachable one.
It always takes longer.
Facts!!!
this is a good coop - do you have plans for the design?
Do your chickens eat off the grass? Do you feed them grain? I was wondering because I’m trying to find a way for chickens to potentially live off grass. I love your content, and would love to start a homestead of my own one day! God bless you!
We supplement our chickens with a layer feed, but yes the forage in the grass for bugs and other good stuff.
So good your chicken 🎉❤
THE ONLY CRITIQUE (WHAT? SOMEONE ON THE INTERWEB HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE WAY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO!? THE NERVE! LOL)
BUT SERIOUSLY, ID HANG BOUGHT FEED AND WATER. IVE HAD ISSUES WITH CHICKEN TRYIN TO ROOST ATOP WATERERS ON THE GROUND. I JUST USED A CHEAP HOOK . IVE L EARNED TOO THAT FEEDERS ON THE GROUND END UP GETTING "FERTILIZED",SO I HANG BOUGHT FEED TOO.
NEVER SEEN YOUR CHANNEL BEFORE THIS VIDEO,REALLY LIKE THE CONTENT,THX FOR SHARING! LOVE THAT THE KIDS ARE SO INVOLVED AND LEARNING WHERE THEIR FOOD COMES FROM,AND NOT IN A " STUDIO CHAIR" GETTIN FAT EATIN PROCESSED GARBAGE,SWIGGING MTN DEW,PLAYIN HOURS OF VIDEO GAMES!!
INSTANT SUB!!
BIG THUMBS UP!!
If you put those plans together I’ll purchase them from you!
I second this.
I third it
Any info on dimensions and how many chickens it can handle comfortably?
Lovely couple. You guys are funny.
Maybe you can put a string and a pulley thru the hardware cloth so you can raise and lower the ramp from the outside
Awesome!! Definitely had a contraption like that on some old coops. Will definitely rig something up when the kids get tired of getting in and out of the coop. 👍
what are your winters like? I'm wondering if a coop like this would work in an Ohio winter, or if it would be too much air flow?
I like this design, of course I would change a few things to make my own, but 90% of what you have there. I have six coming in July, will this be large enough you think.?
My friends what about paradedters. That would get a chicken to
eat them. You should
have Dog's that would guard them that is an idea. 🎉
Where can I find the plans and dimensions for the latest chicken tractor you built? Thank you!
We have a small barn that we converted half to a coop. Indoor and outdoor. We used what we thought was heaven gage chicken wire for door and 2 Fisher Cats proceeded in one night to rip a hole in it and drag the chickens through. It killed 16 chickens and 4 ducks. Short of using rebar, nothing stops these weasels.
Do you have detailed plans for this chicken tractor?
The 4 foot long rat snake (aka. chicken snake) I saw on my property yesterday afternoon would love this design. The chickens... not so much.
Mix him in with the orange chicken recipe next time. No more rat snake.
Love it.
I just built the joel salatin version with wheels for my meat birds. What state are y'all in?
Nice!!!!! A great design that serves a great purpose. We are in Arkansas. You?
Tennessee
Do you have written up plans for this coop by any chance? My husband and I love this design
No, not yet. We’re looking into it though!
Also would love to see your coop plans. Love your videos. Thank you 😊
Yes, yes, yes! Love the chicken tractor and want to build one. Just need the plans. Thank you for the awesome video!
I would love plans as well!
@@TheSeasonalHomestead Were you ever able to create official plans for this coop? (I may just be missing them.) We are hoping to build one soon and really love your design. We also need it to be very safe as we have raccoons and foxes that come into the yard. No pressure at all, but if it would help or if you have time, we will buy all the supplies and bring them to you if you want to do a tutorial! :) And my kids will help with garden chores while we work on it! ;)
Any chance you could include the plans?
Instead of building 12 coops, can you mix the chickens until you breed a particular type? At which time you separate that type into a second coup?
Then you could have even more breeds too? But maybe the roosters need to be separated? Smaller coups for them? Idk
Basic dimensions, please? (Footprint and peak height? I could finagle the rest.)
which work gloves are you using by the way, they seem realy to be doing the job. in mine I can only hit a nail or something when I am lucky because they aren't sitting around my hands precise enough (tried to build a greenhouse, used a hammer in the end. I didn't find anything like yours in whole internet. best regards from germany, jane :)
I have been getting trampolines for free and repurposing them into chicken tractors
please kindly post plans for this lovely coop
Working on it. We've had surprisingly a lot of requests for this. :)
Are there plan? If not please please put out plans. I’m an older lady and desperate to find something I can move alone.
My husband and I just love this design! If we were to make this, is it good to overwinter our chickens in them? We're in Maine with zero below temps? Thanks
Thanks! If I were in your shoes- the tractor would work for the warmer months but I would move the chickens to a greenhouse or DIY tunnel of some sort if you have it during winter, it would keep them warm and they would lay more. We don’t get much snow, so it’s easy for us to move tractors around through winter. I am from upstate NY and with the amount of snow and cold we got there these tractors would have not been practical all the way through winter. I imagine Maine is similar! I hope that helps!
That looks like a lot of work.
Yes it is! Rewarding for sure!!
I'm very curious about how you would clean the closed coop part 🤔
The back door where we gather eggs is large enough for cleaning that inside part.
@@TheSeasonalHomestead if you could do a video on that sometime I would love that!
Curious how your wheel axle held up after a few years. I’m building a chicken tractor now and deciding how to attach
I suggest getting rid of the wheels and making the bottom like skis so that it can slide on the ground, grass or gravel. A strip of aluminum on both sides would work very well.
We may have to try that on future chicken tractors, and evaluate which one "rolls" better :)
@@TheSeasonalHomestead I don't know what your winter situation is like. I'm in British Columbia and have lots of snow. I often use a plastic sled to move heavy items around my farm all year round. It slides on the bumpy soil or grass VERY well without sinking into mud or ruts.
Nice design but how many chickens are you housing in this coop?