PVC Chicken Tractor Plans

[Sasquatchvnv]

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This one looks great! Short material list and no expensive/exotic fittings. Double duty if you're raising broilers - after they're safely tucked in the freezer, you can use this in your garden as a greenhouse to extend the growing season! I'll knock together a few this weekend, let you know how it goes.

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[willseeker]

Double duty is right!
Put the chickens under the visqueen in the summer and you'll have broilers all right!

Cooked well done.

Will

 

[Sasquatchvnv]

Pretty much as you say - solar powered cooker if built as pictured. I was thinkin chicken wire over all with a tarp sheltered area on one end. Plastic reserved for the greenhouse phase of use.

 

[elsullo]

A friend made something similar years ago, but with a nesting box inside to assist in egg gathering. It is very light and easily moved by two people. You DO need a dog to keep coyotes from digging under it. A side benefit not mentioned is that you can use it to clear a garden site and fertilize it too! The chickens peck and scratch until the pen area is weed-free, insect-free, and pre-tilled; then move it a few feet and continue to clear the garden site.......................elsullo

 

[Sasquatchvnv]

Just knocked together two of them over the weekend - working fine. If I had it to do again, I would choose a drill bit closer to the OD of the 1/2" PVC when drilling the holes in the 2" base. The 1" holes leave a lot of un-necessary slop in the frame. The chicken wire stiffens it up, but a better fit would make a stronger frame I think.

 

[Who is John Malt?]

A friend made something similar years ago, but with a nesting box inside to assist in egg gathering. It is very light and easily moved by two people. You DO need a dog to keep coyotes from digging under it. A side benefit not mentioned is that you can use it to clear a garden site and fertilize it too! The chickens peck and scratch until the pen area is weed-free, insect-free, and pre-tilled; then move it a few feet and continue to clear the garden site.......................elsullo

We've been using PVC w/wire "tractors" for years with exceptional results. I don't have the time nor the inclination to have a dog so to deter predators, we installed plastic insulators around the perimeter (about 3" up from the bottom), ran a bare wire, and hooked it up to a battery-operated energizer. We've only lost a couple of birds in the past 4 years and that was due to the wire not being "hot". Besides egg layers, we raise broilers so we run as many as three tractors around the property during the warmer months. When doing so, we'll run a jumper between them in a series as the energizers are plenty large enough to handle multiple tractors.

By running the birds on pasture, the egg layers consume almost 1/2 of the feed their "dirt floor contained" counterparts. Even the broilers will eat nearly 1/3 of their normal input feed. They're moved every 24 hours and there is a big difference in meat and egg nutrition by allowing them safe access to grass, bugs, and worms. Besides, that manure makes fantastic fertilizer.