Building The New Chicken Tractor (Part II)

In Building The New Chicken Tractor (Part I) we showed you the progress on our new chicken tractor, the design, and how we started constructing it.  Tonight we'll continue.  Last night we built the basic skeleton and added some bracing to make it stronger.  We took two rolls of 3 foot tall welded wire fencing, stapled it to one of the 2x4's on the bottom and rolled it over the top, cutting it off with cutting pliers and stapling to the 2x4 on the other side.  Then we used zip ties to fasten it to the pvc. This process was repeated all the way across until we had the entire curved structure enclosed in fencing.  Fastening the fencing to the two ends took a bit more time.  The bottom was easy as it is a straight cut.  The top required cutting and then using wire to fasten to the pvc hoop. Once done, it enclosed the end nicely.

I wanted to show a few shots to show the bracing supports that added a lot of strength to the chicken tractor.  First some metal conduit with wooden dowels tightly wedged in each end allowed us to run a screw through the pvc hoop and into the wood in the conduit, tightening it down.  Then a 2x2 was attached vertically with a hole drilled to allow us to run the conduit through it.

The very top of the 2x4 had a notch that accepted the 1x4 top brace, supporting the frame securely.  This was screwed in to keep it from moving.

On the other side, a door frame with bracing was added.  Everything but the doorway was shrouded with welded wire fencing.  This discourages predators.

A door with a latch was installed and this enables us to walk into the chicken tractor without bending over. The door is covered with chicken wire and has adequate bracing to make it sturdy and strong.  Notice the trap door at the bottom.  Once the birds are trained to roost in the new chicken tractor, I'll only open the trap door during the day, allowing the chickens to come and go as they please and I'll close it after they are all inside at night.

I am very pleased with the design of the new tractor and how it turned out.  Tune in on Thursday where we will finish things up. A couple of quick comments is that the tractor is tall enough to not have to bend over when walking inside, and that is nice! Instead of pushing this tractor, we will pull it. Notice the rope draped over the top on both sides.  It runs through the 6 foot 2x4s with a knot tied in the rope on the backside.

Tomorrow we will weigh the meat birds at 3 weeks old and then perhaps finish this series up on Thursday.