How big do I need??

I am planning to build some A-frame tractors and need to know lengths. I am looking to house 3-4 chickens for breeding pens. The width will be 4' but how long, including the house would they need. I am also planning a couple to house either a setting hen turkey, or a Tom and a pair of pencilled palms. So need to know height/width/ length for them also. Also how big should the shelter for each be? Any ideas would be appreciated!

I built mine based on the dimensions of the wood and OSB that i had. I OSB cut in half for the slanted sides, one half an OSB cut into two triangles for the front and back. 8’ long cause that is how long the lumber is, stucco wire around the outside part.



Jonny Anvil made the unpainted ones in the front.

I just had a brainwave idea, I have some tin that I was given. I have priced out materials and will use plastic water pipe and bend it in arches and put the ends into 2x4s. Use osb for the end of the tractor (house) for strength. It works out cheaper than lumber and gives more head space for the turkeys. The fat ewes livestock panel pens gave me the idea.

So a total length of 8' would be enough for a trio of chickens? I am thinking 12-14 feet for a turkey one

http://redrowfarm.com/turkeys/turkey-tractor-upgrade/

Google images has a number of turkey tractors to check out.

smokyriver wrote:I just had a brainwave idea, I have some tin that I was given. I have priced out materials and will use plastic water pipe and bend it in arches and put the ends into 2x4s. Use osb for the end of the tractor (house) for strength. It works out cheaper than lumber and gives more head space for the turkeys. The fat ewes livestock panel pens gave me the idea.

So a total length of 8' would be enough for a trio of chickens? I am thinking 12-14 feet for a turkey one

I plan to try out one of those hoop coops this summer, using a tarp over one end and stake it down with dog tie outs so it does not blow away.

There is a pic posted on the other site that shows a beautiful one. I have asked for dimensions so I can start buying materials for a few. I want to build 6-7 tractors, probably not all this year though. Lol

smokyriver wrote:I just had a brainwave idea, I have some tin that I was given. I have priced out materials and will use plastic water pipe and bend it in arches and put the ends into 2x4s. Use osb for the end of the tractor (house) for strength. It works out cheaper than lumber and gives more head space for the turkeys. The fat ewes livestock panel pens gave me the idea.

So a total length of 8' would be enough for a trio of chickens? I am thinking 12-14 feet for a turkey one

If you go with the 4 sq ft per chicken rule, you're just barely big enough for four birds (assuming shelter portion will be about 4x4). A bigger pen would mean you don't have to move it as often, plus give the birds more room.

When I build my tractors in the spring, I'm considering a modified A frame design, but starting the slanted portion of the "A" a foot or two from the ground, with the first foot or two being vertical. Then the birds have more room to stand up full height, and you don't have useless space inside the shelter where it's just too steeply angled for anything to fit.

Or I might forget the A frame idea and just do a simple box construction. I haven't 100% decided yet. I need to do some sketches and decide what will be most economical to build, and practical to use. I'll share once I have them figured out.

Either way, take weight (for ease of moving) and standard lumber lengths/dimensions into account. Try to minimize your cuts (less waste, faster to assemble), always use the best materials that you can afford (I personally wouldn't use plastic pipe for anything structural - it's too hard to attach things to, tends to crack/shatter in the cold, and also deteriorates when exposed to sunlight), and think of long-term structural integrity - it takes less effort to do it correctly the first time than it does to go back and fix it or start all over again.

I am wondering if hubby will let me use the rebar we have here instead of the plastic pipe. I would then build the whole thing out of rebar, or possibly sucker rod. I am still trying to figure out my materials.

The best materials for me were what I have available, inexpensive, and easiest to work with...in that order. Those white tractors will hold 4 to 5 chickens easily, but need to be moved every second day. They are heavy as hell for one person to move. My next tractors will have weight as their number one priority. Light weight!

Tha is one of the thing I am looking at which will limit what I build. Which is why I was looking at the waterline at $54.99 for 100' roll it makes it fairly cheap. The sucker rod is not too bad but has the faults of being hard to secure any tin to. The same as rebar. I looked at taking 2x6 splitting them in half and using them, but for the turkeys I just don't think the A-frame would work very well I want them to be comfortable. I ran across a design where they used plywood for each end, on one end they used what looked to be 2x10 pieces and built a rectangle which they attached to the plywood with a short strip across for nest boxes. They then covered it with a tarp. I was thinking instead of a tarp using heavey plastic which allows the light to go through. To secure it you just roll the end in a thin strip of wood and nail it on. The plastic lasted 3 years on my green house before it finally went, and then it only went because my 3 year old used a stick and poked holes in it along the wood where the wind could really grab it

For bigger birds, more vertical sides does make more sense. It affords a little more room. Princess Auto down here has well priced wheels, something I am considering for a larger heavier coop. More rambling coop thoughts.

We have tried all sorts of tractor ideas here, and weight is the biggest issue for sure, and heat.
The cattle pannel hoop houses are nice, they hold a fair amount of birds, but are cumbersome to move, ours were 8 ft by 8 ft and have now just become permenent houses in pens because moving them was just too akward. Also we used tarps on them, the silver outside with black inside worked best, they were heavier duty and also reflected some sunlight. If you use clear plastic you are making a greenhouse and your bird will fry in the summer, even in the reflective tarps it gets very hot in there.
The large tractor my hubby built me was made out of endless tubing, welded so they have 2 ft vertical then the hoops over the top. Reflective tarp over the hoop part and mesh walls going up to that. We use it for our meat birds, and he put wheels on it to make it move a bit easier. But the wheels add height under so the younger birds could get out, so he had to make them removable for when they are younger, the thing weighs a lot, but the wheels definately help.
We got an A frame from Jonny last year, thinking of putting wheels on it as well, it is well built and heavy. We used it for 5 silkie chickens, had to move it twice a week. Not sure how long or how many standard birds we could fit in there, havent tried that yet.
We also have box tractors, 6 ft long by 3 ft wide, they were built for rabbits to begin with so have a wooden floor in them and mesh on 3 ft with solid walls on 3 ft for the house part. I use these for broody momma chickens, they are hard to clean (would definately do them with no floors), and when it rains it does get inside being that the roof is not sloped at all.

We built a chicken run out of water line and it barely lasted 2 years in the sun before it started breaking down, so definately stay away from that. One thing I have looked at which is kind of pricey but light weight is the metal conduet (sp?) pipe, it comes in 8 ft lengths, it galvanized metal so should last for a long time, but light weight which is nice. Easy to drill through so you could attatch tin to it fairly easily.

Anything with tarps around here the tarps have to be replaced every year. The birds will roost on the top of them if allowed and will wreck the tarps. Also if you have geese they LOVE to pick the tarps apart, so keep that in mind.

smokyriver wrote:The sucker rod is not too bad but has the faults of being hard to secure any tin to. The same as rebar.

Unless you can weld/tack it to the sucker rod or rebar. I don't know much about welding (husband is a very good welder, but hasn't taught me yet. It's on the list of skills to obtain), so I'm not sure that's possible ... you could probably drill pilot holes into the sucker rod and then attach the tin with regular tin roofing screws - the ones with the rubber gasket thingy and the washer already pre-attached. I'm somewhat out of my element when working with metal, though, so I am quite likely just talking out of my arse here. Mostly, though, metal is just heavier than wood, so if weight is an issue ... plus there's the part where you freeze your fingers on colder days.

I have some extra tin lying around from when I had the studio reroofed, so I was planning on using it somehow for the tractors - I was just thinking of roofing the shelter portion of the tractor with it, though, with possibly an extension over a portion of the pen to create a covered-porch type area.

Wheels are definitely a must. I was thinking of doing a sort of skid/wheel combo, with the wheels attached to the heavier shelter portion of the tractor, and 2x4 or 2x6 skids down the pen portion. Ideally I would like to be able to move them by hand, so would put a good handle on the front (a single handle, going the width of the pen, rather than a handle on either side) and use the weight at the rear to help cantilever it during moving.

I think, too, by putting the wheels at the rear, it would help eliminate the escaping birds/invading predators issue - provided you can shoo the birds inside the shelter before you move it, they shouldn't escape out the front while you're lifting.

My parents had a (small) chicken tractor, and my dad built what was essentially a moveable shooing wall inside the tractor that slid from the front of the pen to the shelter to expedite the process of getting the chickens back into the shelter. I'm not sure the idea would work on a larger tractor, though.

The sucker rods don't drill very well. I tried to drill one and broke 8 bits before I gave up! Roofing tin is too light to weld to the sucker rod. You end up burning holes through the tin before you can attach it.

I hadn't thought about the possibility if cooked chickens using clear plastic! Glad you mentioned it hidden or we could hsve had a disaster here!!

I am going to have to keep thinking. I have thought about using light metal tubing for a more permanent structure. I can pick it up for approx $18 for a 21' joint. I would not need to pay a welder as I have been blessed to have married one and have 3 young men in my life who also like to weld, so they could build the frame work for me

smokyriver wrote:The sucker rods don't drill very well. I tried to drill one and broke 8 bits before I gave up!

Yikes! I will be sure to not try that. LOL

If you still wanted to use the tin, you could always drill a hole through the tin and attach it to the sucker rod with chain link fence ties. Heavy-duty black zip ties could also work, but you'd want to be sure to replace them at the start of every season, since they do get brittle quickly.

You can wire sucker rod or rebar together quite nicely.

I have a nice stash of sucker rod I use for fencing posts along with stucco wire.

authenticfarm wrote:
When I build my tractors in the spring, I'm considering a modified A frame design, but starting the slanted portion of the "A" a foot or two from the ground, with the first foot or two being vertical. Then the birds have more room to stand up full height, and you don't have useless space inside the shelter where it's just too steeply angled for anything to fit.

Or I might forget the A frame idea and just do a simple box construction. I haven't 100% decided yet. I need to do some sketches and decide what will be most economical to build, and practical to use. I'll share once I have them figured out.

Either way, take weight (for ease of moving) and standard lumber lengths/dimensions into account. Try to minimize your cuts (less waste, faster to assemble),

What do you think of a shed roof design? The water would flow off the roof and the pitch would only have to be minimal to do this?
Here is a chicken tractor video with a shed roof.

Looks interesting - I haven't seen that exact style before!

I've drawn up plans for my tractor and coop, just waiting for the snow to melt so I can get building!

I didn't end up going with an A frame design, turns out I am a little OCD about right angles.