Un-Coop Your Poop: Build a Chicken Tractor
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Transcript of Un-Coop Your Poop: Build a Chicken Tractor
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Harvey Ussery
An all-natural approach to raising chickensand other fowl for home and market growers
ith information on building
soil fertility, replacing
urchased feed, and working
with poultry in the garden
Te Small-Scale
Poultry Flock
FOREWORD BY JOEL SALATIN
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If you day-range your flock, or use temporary fenc-
ing anchored on the henhouse to rotate the flock over
fresh plots, the birds always return to the same shelter
at night. If you pasture them farther afield, however,
you will need a mobile shelter of some sort to rotate
them to new ground, and to shelter them at night or
when it rains. Ive seen hundreds of mobile coops,
and no two are ever the same.1The design you come
up with will depend on the size of your flock, how
you intend to use their services, leftover material
from other projects begging to be used, the nature o
your climate and groundperhaps on how whimsi
cal you happen to be feeling.
The first movable shelter I built was a copy of th
11 | MOBILE SHELTERS
Fig. 11.1 My friend Jon Kinnard combined whimsy, utility, and the urge to recycle into this micro-flock mobile shelter. It is entirely sel
contained, with feed storage and nest in the bin under the hinged metal roofing and roosts in the rest of the shelter. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBORA
MOORE
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M O B I L E S H E L T E R S 109
classic Polyface designa contemporary example is
shown in figure 11.2. If Joel Salatins mobile pens can
produce tens of thousands of market broilers a year
to put money in the bank, surely all of us creative
amateurs can come up with shelters that allow our
birds continual access to fresh grass while protecting
them from opportunists on the prowl.
Designing a Pasture Shelter
Below are some issues to ponder as you plan your
mobile shelter project. It could help with your
planning to have a look as well at appendix C for
design and materials considerations and step-by-step
construction of my most recent all-purpose pasture
shelter.
Pasture Pens and Pasture SheltersMicro-flocks on lawn or pasture are often confined
entirely to the shelter, which is moved frequently to
new grass. The larger the flock size, however, the
larger the protected foraging space you will want to
provide the birds. As discussed in the previous chap-
ter, I use electric net fencing for giving my birds an
extensive area to roam outside the shelter. If you do
not use electronet, however, you might provide a
pasture penusing a set of light wooden frame panels
with chicken wire, easily locked together using bolt
with wing nuts, and just as easily disassembled fo
moving. Whether you need to attach a frame ove
the top of the pen will depend on aerial predation
where you are.
Cody, a friend of mine, came up with an inge
nious pasture shelter-and-pen set for her flock of hal
a dozen layers, shown in figure 11.4: She mounted
a small shelter (2 by 3 feet) on a landscaper
wagon, complete with roosts, nests, and a ramp sh
lowersusing a nylon strap attached to the ramp tha
runs right through the shelterto release the flock in
the morning. She made a separate 8-by-8-foot pen, 4
feet high and with a cover of wire over the top, and
mounted on small wheels for moving. Framed into
one side is a narrow opening into which the door o
the shelter docks. In the morning Cody moves the
pen onto fresh grass; wheels the shelter into dock
ing position; then lowers the shelters ramp to releas
the hens into the pen. At dusk they retreat into the
shelter on their own, and Cody pulls the ramp into
place with its remote-control strap, to guard agains
unwanted night visitors.
Trade-Offs: Size, Weight, and Stability
The size of the shelter will be determined by the size
of the flock it will shelter and its intended use. At the
low end of the scale, a shelter could be designed as a
Fig. 11.3 As you can see, it is possible to build the same-sized pe
with much lighter framing, making good use of diagonal bracing.
Fig. 11.2 A movable pasture shelter based on the classic Polyface-
style broiler pen. Note the 2-by-4 constructionthis was a first project
for its builders and is overstructured.PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMUEL MATICH
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110 B A S I C C A R E
chicken tractor, holding six to ten tiller chickens and
sized to work a single garden bed.
As with the main coop itself, size has everything to
do with whether it will be sleeping quarters only for
a flock that is ranging outside during the day, or will
confine the birds full-time. As said, the first mobile
shelter I used was a copy of the classic Polyface model,
10 feet by 12 (see figure 11.2)I used it to raise
fifty comparatively inactive Cornish Cross broilersat a time, about 2 square feet each. When I later
used that same shelter for confined layers, I limited
the number of hens to sixteen7 square feet each.
Remember that you will be more likely to rotate your
birds to fresh grass as frequently as you should if its
easy to move their shelter. It might make sense to split
the flock into two smaller shelters rather than keep
ing them all in one large one that is more difficult to
move.
The heavier a shelter, the more difficult, and possibly
the more dangerous, it is to move. On the other hand
the lighter it is, the more likely it is to be tossed into
the next county by a rambunctious wind. Of course
it would be possible to anchor even the lightest shelte
to the ground; but again, the more difficult we makea moveundoing and redoing a complex anchoring
routinethe more inertia will inhibit frequent moves
Shape also plays a part in stability in heavier winds
I have found the boxier-type shelters with a highe
profile catch the wind, while hoop or A-frame shape
tend to keep their feet on the ground. (The classic
Fig. 11.4 Cody Leesers ingenious design for a small wagon-mounted shelter and a separate wheeled pasture pen. She moves the pen eac
morning, then docks the shelter onto the pen and releases her hens for the day.
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M O B I L E S H E L T E R S 111
Polyface model, 10 by 12 feet, is indeed rectangular in
shape, but it is only 24 inches high and stable even in
strong winds.) Materials choices (see below) have the
biggest impact on weight of the shelter.
Remember that diagonal bracing greatly reduces
weight of the frame. I framed my first shelters in 2-by-
4s exclusively, all at right anglesclumsy, inelegant,and balky about moving. I discovered that even large
shelters could be made with much lighter but well-
braced framing, like the Polyface-style pen in figure
11.3. I also found that smaller shelters do not need
full 2-by-4 framing even for the bottom rails. For a
shelter of this sizeat present I have two of about
8 by 4 foot, another 10 by 3I now rip 2-by-4s to
2 inches to use as the bottom rails. The remain
ing 1-inch strips I use for the verticals and diagona
bracing; that is to say, the weight of the entire frame
is now not much more than the bottom rails alone
before this modification.
Note as well that you can reduce weight bypositioning bracing where possible to do double
duty as roosts. In a larger A-frame, for example
you will want to include collar ties, the horizonta
pieces that tie the rafters together, providing greate
rigidity. Position them low enough below the peak to
allow use as roosts by two or three hens. Horizonta
Andy Lee introduced the idea of the chicken
tractor (or as I call it, a cruiser)a small, easily
moved chicken shelter sized to fit a single garden
bed, a key to putting chickens to work in the
garden. A few laying hens inside till and fertilize
the bed while finding free food in the form of
worms and slugs and snailsand laying eggs
but have no access to immediately adjacent beds.
Since a tractor gets maneuvered in tight
spaces and needs to be moved frequently, it is
better to make it small and nimble. Dont forget
to provide enough cover on parts of the sides
and top for shelter from blowing rain, and for
shade in hot weather.
Chicken Cruiser
Fig. 11.5 My most recent chicken cruiser, made for
maneuvering in tight garden spaces.
Fig. 11.6 A cruiser keeps the chickens working in a single
bed while preventing access to adjacent ones. The lids on this
unitone aluminum roofing, the other wire on wood framing
are separately hinged for access to any part of the interior.Nestboxes are recycled plastic milk crates attached to the
framing.
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112 B A S I C C A R E
stringers reinforcing the frame can also be positioned
for use as roosts.
A final option for reducing weight is to use
chicken wire as much as possible in lieu of solid
material, consonant with the need for protection
from rain, sun, and sharp chilly winds in part of the
shelter. In many shelters wire mesh replaces at least
part of the roof, and much of the sides. Use of wire
has the further advantage of maximizing airflow and
sunlight into the interior.
Wheels
I prefer wheels for all my larger shelters. Instead of
installing axles across the entire width of the shelter,
I permanently install half-inch bolts in the bottom
rail at each corner, using nuts, flat washers, and lock
washers. Its easy to use a single set of wheels for
multiple shelters, popping them onto the bolts and
locking them down with wing nuts. If your ground
is nice and even, an 8-inch wheel might work foryou. I found that, with an 8-inch wheel, the bottom
rear rail of the shelter hung up on tussocks of grass.
The additional clearance with a 10-inch wheel makes
moving much easier on my pasture.
If wheels are to be permanently installed, bicycle
wheelsor other large wheels looking to be recycled,
like the front wheels from an old tractormak
moving over uneven ground easiest of all.
Does Your Shelter Need a Floor?The whole idea of using a mobile shelter is to give it
occupants access to fresh grass, so it usually make
sense to make the shelter floorless. Some manage
ment choices, however, might make a floor advisable
For example, young birds are easier to move with no
risk of injury from the rear bottom rail (see below) i
on a floor. If you do install a floor in your shelter, I
recommend using wire or plastic mesh, as dropping
will accumulate on a solid floor, requiring frequen
clean-out from the tight confines of the interior.
Predators
If the shelter is inside an electric net perimeter, you
will not have to worry about digging predators
However, if there are large owls in your neighbor
hood, close the shelter at nightnocturnal owls hun
on the wing, but also land and walk around looking
for prey.
If the shelter is not inside an electric net, remem
ber that raccoons and dogs may tear a hole in chicken
wirein the case of 2-inch mesh, a raccoon may
feed on its victim by tearing it apart right through
the wire. If you are designing for such threats, use
half-inch hardware cloth instead, well secured to the
framing. Foil digging predators with a wire mesh floo
(2-by-4 welded wire allows both access to the gras
and protection from digging predators)or by laying
18-inch panels of chicken wire on light wood framing
flat on the ground, entirely around the shelter.
The best option of all is to wire for defense, a
in figure 11.8: Run some single-strand electric wire
around the entire shelter, standing it off from thesides with plastic or porcelain insulators, one at nose
level and ideally another about 12 inches up. An
inexpensive charger powered by a 9-volt battery i
sufficient to charge such a small run of wire. Whethe
dog or raccoon or digging fox, the exploratory probe
of choice is the supremely sensitive noseonce it hit
Fig. 11.7 Diagonal framing in this A-frame shelter provides
rigidity without excess weight. Note the collar ties, set low enough
to serve double duty as roosts.
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M O B I L E S H E L T E R S 113
the wire, the visitor will seek dinner or entertainment
elsewhere.
Nests and Other ThoughtsIf the shelter will house layers, you should add nest-
boxes, which can be mounted above ground level on
existing framing pieces. A hinged doorto shield the
nest from rain but give you access from the outside
is a better option than crawling into the shelter to
collect eggs. If hens are inclined to roost and poop
in the nest, an additional hinged cover to swing into
place at night may be in order.
Install a doorin the shelter even if you rarely use
it (such as when the shelter is inside an electric net).
Latching it will help you get ready to move the shelter
from one electronetted area to another, do a census or
selection, or isolate birds for culling.
In smaller, rectangular shelters, often the only
door is a hinged lid giving access to the interior.
Remember that the lid can be popped open by a wind
gust, maybe even ripped off the hinges, and providea positive catch for locking it shut. (The country-boy
version is a heavy rock set on the lid.)
Even a shelter heavy enough to withstand ordinary
winds may flip when a gale blows. When weather
predictions here are for winds well beyond the ordi-
nary, I temporarily nail my shelters down using an
earth anchoressentially, an abbreviated auger screw
on the end of a steel rod with an eye hook on its top
end. Once the rod is screwed solidly into the earth
I tie or wire one of the bottom rails to its eye hook
Another way to temporarily secure a shelter is to hang
a couple of 5-gallon buckets from the framing inside
and fill them with waterthats over 80 pounds
using a garden hose. Just empty the buckets when it
time to move the shelter.
Remember your chickens need to dust-bathe
Since there is no opportunity for them to do so i
constantly on fresh grass, either provide an onboard
dustboxor set one out for them on the pasture anytime
there is no possibility of rain.
Most shelters are designed to be used in the warmeparts of the year only. If you are going to house your
birds in the shelter in winter as well, you will need to
make at least the part where they sleep a good dea
tighter against the winter winds, snow, and rain. A
noted in chapter 6, however, the shelter should stil
allow a lot of airflow.
Fig. 11.8 Wiring for defense keeps predators away.
Fig. 11.9 Hinged access from the outside makes it easy for Annec
and Camille to collect eggs from my latest A-frame shelter.
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114 B A S I C C A R E
Materials
Mobile shelters have been made in just about every
material other than titanium. Which materials you
choose will depend on which you feel comfortable
working with, what might be in your recycle pile, and
considerations of weight and climate.
Wood
I am more comfortable working with wood, so all my
shelters have had wooden frames, with one exception
a hoop structure based on half-inch solid fiberglass rods
as purlins and as arches, anchored into a wooden foun-
dation frame. I dont use any pressure-treated wood
anywhere on the place remotely connected to produc-
ing food. To help prevent rot, I coat all framing pieces
in direct contact with the ground with nontoxic sealer,
renewed periodically as needed. Using a highly rot-
resistant woodeastern red cedar in my areawould
be a better option if you can get it. You might design so
that the bottom railsthe parts most subject to rot
can be replaced without taking apart the entire shelter.
Or mount the frame on plastic rails. (See below.)
When out of service over the winter, a wood-frame
shelter should always be set up on blocks. You might
even want to block each corner after each move, to
keep the rails out of contact with the ground.
PlasticBeginners often think of lightweight 1-inch plas-
tic pipe or the like for framing a shelter. Ive never
seen one that inspired much confidencesuch plas-
tic is pretty fragile and breaks down in sunlight.2
Heavier plastic pipe (Schedule 40 PVC, for example)
is another matterIve corresponded with many
flocksters who have used it for shelters that are bothsufficiently rugged and easily moved. (See figures 6.8
and 6.9 for examples that could be scaled down for
smaller shelters.) Ive never used plastic pipe myself.
This year I experimented with recycled plastic
decking3 to make two 6-by-10 pasture shelters for
nurturing young birds through the vulnerable (to
aerial predation) phase. I framed them entirely in thi
recycled material, on the assumption that it would las
a lot longer than wood. The jury is still out regarding
how well plastic decking serves as structural material
It certainly is heavythe lighter one (24 inches high
to accommodate chickens) will move without wheels
with some persuasion; the heavier (36 inches high
for geese) requires wheels. So far even the heavies
winds havent fazed them.
Im especially pleased with the new chicken tracto
I made last spring and used the entire growing season
Its mounted on recycled plastic decking boards to
prevent rot in its wooden frame and to make it easier
to slide the shelter down the garden beds.
Metal
Electrical conduit is light and easily shaped. You may
see references to its use for framing mobile shelters
but most reports Ive read about it have been nega
tive. Both angle iron and rebarconcrete reinforcing
rods made of soft ironmake sturdy frames for thos
with welding skills and equipment.
Ive heard from a lot of flocksters who use cattle
panels to frame hoop-style shelters, either secured to
a wooden base or welded to metal runners. The stan
dard length of these panels is 16 feet; height varie
by species of livestock, but in this application likely
52 inches; steel wire should be heavy enough (likely
4-gauge) to make a semirigid fencing section welded
into a 6-by-8-inch mesh. Typically the panels are
attached to one side of a wooden frame (or welded
onto a metal one); bent in the long dimension into
a hoop attached to the frame on the other side; and
covered with a tough, flexible, opaque cover. The
result has the usual trade-offs among weight, mobil
ity, and stability in the wind but typically has considerably more capacity than shelters framed in othe
materials.
Covers
If light plastic pipe is a bad idea, such pipe covered
with lightweight plastic tarps makes absolutely th
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M O B I L E S H E L T E R S 115
worst combination. Not only do such tarps break
down in sunlightand shred, and blow in the
windbut the combination is so light, even a sneeze
will move it.
Heavy canvas tarps, like the one in figure 6.8, are
tough and weatherproof and make a better choice
than plastic tarps. There is one option in plastic
covering worth considering, however: 24-mil woven
polyethyleneincredibly tough, durable plastic
sheeting interwoven with a fiber mesh. Its available
in semi-translucent white and a number of colors,
including one that is black on one side, silver on the
other. The side you face to the outside depends on
whether you need to reflect or gain solar heat to the
interiorin my climate, putting the reflective sid
out is the obvious choice.4Did I say tough? I onc
had an 8-by-8 A-frame shelter covered in woven
poly, which got smacked tumbling by a gust of wind
through 30 yards of underbrush. The result was on
broken strut only (a testament to diagonal bracing)
but not a single tear in the poly.
I have used metal roofing for the solid covering on
a number of my shelters. Aluminum roofing is lighte
but more expensive; steel, heavier but cheaper. Stee
roofing is available either as plain galvanized, or with
a baked-on enamel finish guaranteed for twenty-fiv
years. Though the galvanized is cheaper, the pain
you would have to apply to extend service life would
Fig. 11.10 An 8-by-8 A-frame mobile shelter covered with 24-mil woven poly. Ten years old at the time of this photo, it is still going strong.
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116 B A S I C C A R E
over time cost more than the initial investment in the
baked finish.
I used baked-enamel steel roofing as the cover on
the shelter in figure 11.9. See as well appendix C for
my reasons for choosing metal roofing over 24-mil
poly.
Fasteners
I strongly advise against assembling your mobile
shelter with nails, which work loose over time as the
frame is yanked around; use screws instead. I prefer
the self-drilling types such as coarse-threaded deck-
ing screws, which dont require pilot holes (as do
conventional wood screws) and thus save time. (I do
drill a pilot hole for a deck screw going into the last 3
inches of a framing piece, to prevent splitting.) Deck
screws with Phillips heads are available galvanized or
coated. The best screws of all are stainless-steel deck-
ing screws with star-drive heads. Though a lot more
expensive than the alternatives, their faster, slip-
free drilling and rustproof durability are important
considerations for a shelter requiring a lot of screws
and facing prolonged weathering.
Moving the Shelter
Twisted wire or cable, run through a piece of scrap
garden hose, makes a convenient pull for moving
the shelter. A wire pull can be permanently attached
to both ends of the shelter; or a single pullwith
twisted loops at either end that slip into open eye
hooks screwed into the bottom railcan be used on
multiple shelters.
When moving a floorless shelter with young o
careless birds inside, watch the trailing edge of the
bottom frame. Usually the chooks come running a
fresh grass is exposed, but those who dither at the
rear may get a leg caught between the ground and
the moving rail. Actual injuries are rare if you pul
slowly, and stop and release a hapless bird at the firs
shriek of distress.