Housing Poultry

How do you house your poultry?
Before I started keeping seperate pure breeds, I had a couple of pens and a small shed that served as housing. Now I use tractors for most of my poultry. I have I think 8 tractors now. I have built them all and each one is different from the others. I was worried about wintering in the tractors, but I had no problems last Winter. When the weather got bad, I grouped the tractors together to help protect each other, then tarped them good. I had me a little shanty town on the site of my Spring Garden. The hay I put in the tractors was composted down just right by the time I needed to till that area for Garden. It worked out so well that I plan to do the same again this year. If the weather turns especially bad, I will run an extention cord and use heat lamps.

ours stay in the barn, if we have really young ones, we put them all in a spare goat pen and put up heat lamps
thats about all we do, nothing special

That sounds great unless you have several breeds and want to keep them seperate.

that is true lol

Okie...I am getting ready to build mine (hopefully, fingers crossed). Which one of yours do you like best and why?

Well, Deb, I think it depends on what chickens I am wanting to put in them as to which one I like the best. The last ones I made are super light weight. In fact the last one is so light I don't even have wheels on it. I used 2x4 welded wire and Cane that grows in my fence line. It will be great for smaller birds like silkies, Millies or Polish. The canes I used for roosts won't hold the weight of big birds like Cornish or Marans. Here is a picture of the next to the last one I made. It now has a pair of Hatch game chickens in it. I have two or three pullets that will join them when they get a little older.


I used a tarp for the top covering, a milk crate for the nest box, empty plastic coffee cans for feeder and waterer and an empty baby formula can for oyster shells.

I have a tractor that is 8'x8' that is perfect for putting a bunch of growers in. I made a flat top without thinking about rain collecting in it. Up until last week there have been birds in it. I will do some reworking before I put more in it.
I have three that are made close enough alike that I guess they are my favorites. They to have flat tops, but the wire stays tight enough that the rain runs off when they are sitting on an incline in my yard. The frame is made of 2x2s and the sides and top are 2x4 welded wire. Here is a picture of one before I put the tarp across the top. It is easy to get to the nest box and very easy to maneuver around the yard. I have wheels from little red wagons, Lawn Mowers, old kid toys and just about anything else that had wheels around here. This tractor is a 5'x8' and about 3' tall. It will house a dozen standard sized birds easily if they are moved to new grazing daily.

hey! I love that last pic now that is a cute pullet
and I love how you dod your chicken tractors a neat idea

That little pullet is Grandma's shadow. She is quit a little gal. LOL

I was thinking that I better let folks know that these tractors are inside a fenced yard with two Great Pyrenees protectors to keep the boogers away. They would not be safe for poultry that had no protection unless smaller holed wire was used. I would probably make a tractor big enough that it would only need to be moved every third day or so and fix a way to stake the tractor in place if I were to have them where coons or coyotes could get to them.

i did make three tractors with handles made six inches longer on both ends for lifting... 6 x 3 x 3 ft - very handy for mothers with babies using half inch chicken wire... unfortunately got broken with all the rough shifting by others. plus the netting i bought at a sale rusted

i had used 1" x 1" garden sticks apparently not strong enough to withstand shifting. I would use strong bamboo tied together with strong nylon string next time - i believe one can weather treat bamboo somehow. maybe good idea to use galvanised netting (if poss) and corrugated galv (sp? iron for the roof maybe extend it over half of the pen for shade and rain shelter

Wheels make a big difference on how much strain is put on the tractor during moving. And how much strain is put on the mover to. LOL
I have a messed up back. My tractors have to be easy to move, or they don't move for me.

aha i didn't mention wheels because i dont know how to attach wheels to the cage

i also like tractor to be flush with ground as well. true having wheels is alot easier for everyone to move it...

All of my wheels are attached to the tractor and stay in place. I was talking to another guy who uses wheels, but the way he did it was different. He attached another board to the up and down braces on one end. This board is cut across and hinged, about a foot from the ground. The hinge lets the bottom part of the board fold up against the leg of the tractor. A wheel is attached to this movable part of the bottom of the board. When you need to move the tractor, you lift the tractor enough that the board with the wheel can be straight down and latched into place. You wheel the tractor where you want it, unlatch the folding board and lift the wheel up against the side. The wheel allows easy mobility, but the tractor sits flat on the ground when it is stationary.
I hope I described that well enough for you to visualize it.

Thanks for the pics and your take on what works for you. It's helpful to have first hand conversation regarding this and that when it comes to tractors. I only need/want one...so, I better do it right the first time then. Mine will be a bit beefier, as I want it to stand the passage of time. I will put the large cart wheels on it to make it move effortlessly through the grass for me. And, like you, mine will be inside a fenced yard with a protector running around, and I will also be inside the city limits...so our predators here are limited down to just a few...rather than what comes down out of the mountains.

Two things to remember. The beefier, the heavier and the bigger the wheels, the easier it is to move.

LOL, I know, that is why there are gonna be some good tires on mine. I want the tractor heavy enough to withstand an 'honest' dog getting into the yard and past Grizz. Ok, so that is like going to be near impossible to happen...but....

My plans thus far are hardware cloth for the sides, a hog panel for the bottom (cut to fit of course), and a galvanized roof. The house portion and frame will be made out of trex, so that it doesn't rot.

It's all figured out as far as what to use...just...what do I want it to look like when it is done. This is going to be the tractor of tractors to last well into my old age. I only want to do it once.