Easy Chicken Tractor Plans

Free chicken coop plans and chicken tractor plans to house your backyard chickens.

Why a Chicken Tractor?

A chicken tractor differs from a chicken coop in that it is usually smaller and built with at least two wheels so it can be moved around the yard and gardens during the daylight hours.

There are so many advantages to having a chicken coop that you can move about.

Ideally, you will want to build a sturdy chicken house from free chicken coop plans to save money.

Then you can move on and use our chicken tractor plans for the wheeled chicken coop, known as a chicken tractor.

Backyard chickens are known for mowing down all manner of vegetation, usually in a matter of hours. The chicken tractor is mobile, unlike the chicken coop, so you can easily cart your backyard chickens right over those pesky weeds in your garden.

They will have it weeded for you in no time. This saves you money http://s762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/frugalliving/?action=view¤t=chicken-coop-4-full-size.jpg&newest=1on chicken feed, which has gone up in price as poultry supplies stores cash in on the backyard chicken keeping trend.

Elements to Consider

There are many chicken coop designs to choose from.

Backyard chickens need a variety of fresh forage, access to water, sufficient space per bird, daylight hours to produce eggs, and protection from predators.

Your chicken tractor can be made very lightweight using pvc pipe for the frame and chicken wire attached over the top.

Chicken tractors do not have even a wire floor so all your chicken breeds have access to the fresh grass, bugs and worms they thrive on.

Many chicken tractors of the lightweight type are made in a triangle shape, which is quite popular as it is easy to put together for the novice carpenter.

Lightweight chicken tractor plans are fast and easy to construct, and one person can easily move it around.

The downside is that this chicken coop design is not very secure for the hens if you are not able to be outside watching them.

Another way to build a chicken tractor is to make it more substantial for the safety of your backyard chickens from predators.

You build a chicken house box out of 2x4s and plywood, and then attach a low pen that is enclosed with chicken wire, found where you buy your chicken feed at any poultry supplies or farm store.

This is a heavier chicken coop plan, so you will want to attach two wheels on the back of the unit so you can more easily move it to fresh forage.

I don't trust predators at night, raccoons, unsecured dogs and many other critters will have your chickens in nothing flat under cover of darkness.

For this reason I don't recommend you leave you chickens in any chicken tractor overnight. They need to be in a permanent chicken coop design that your backyard chickens can go into and be locked in at night.

Materials

The scope of your chicken tractor plans determines how much of these materials you will need.

Many folks scrounge around and find free leftover building materials and make do. The chickens don't care about aesthetics, but your neighbors will. Plan accordingly. Here are the basics:

Chicken Tractor Plans

Here are some of my favorite free chicken coop designs in the mobile version.

There are many benefits to us if we can each keep a few backyard chickens in a chicken coop and free range them in a chicken tractor during the day.
We would have less need for factory farmed chicken hatcheries, eggs that are more nutritious, free of chemicals and cheaper too.

A chicken tractor dramatically reduces the rising cost of chicken feed purchased at poultry supplies stores as well.

So have a great time building your coop and don't forget to send us your pictures!