Chicken Tractor

One of our goals this year is to raise chickens for meat. The chicks will be coming later this season as we first want to raise a new batch of laying hens. This gave me time to build a chicken tractor to house them.

Our chicken tractor is modeled after one developed by small farm advocate Joel Saladin. The idea is that every day or two, the unit is moved to give the chickens fresh grass. Our version is a little heavy, but it only needs to move 10 feet at a time. The wood was largely from pallets, and half the siding is from spare barn roofing. I painted it white to help protectthe wood and dress it up a little.

The chickens fertilize the ground, and the frequent movement means less risk to destroying the grass. We plan to move the tractor around our small orchard to trim the grass and fertilize the area.

Because this breed of chicken ends up being fairly top-heavy by the end, roosting bars actually end up being a hazard, so they spend their lives on the ground. These chickens will not free range like our laying hens, as they are not the brightest or most mobile, but they will get plenty of fresh air, fresh bugs, and fresh grass.