The Chicken Tank // Building an Indestructible Chicken Tractor

Рет қаралды 26,571

Жыл бұрын

Chicken tractors are supposed to be lightweight and portable. I messed up.
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Our first ever meat chickens will be arriving in a few weeks. Our plan is to raise them on pasture as part of our rotational grazing strategy and to do that properly a chicken tractor is needed. A chicken tractor is a mobile coop and is designed to be lightweight and easily moveable. In typical “me” fashion I threw those points out the window in favor of this behemoth.
There are two main types of tractor: Salatin style and Suscovich style. Each have their own pros and cons but for our purposes we gravitated toward the Suscovich model. We utilized upcycled metal roofing for the roof of the coop and hardware cloth for the walls.
At the end of the build we had a “hoss daddy” of a tractor that is incredibly difficult to move but should withstand anything Mother Nature can throw its way. And besides, the tractor only needs to move about 8ft at a time, so why does weight matter anyway? (sarcasm font)
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#chickentractor #pasturedpoultry #homestead

Пікірлер: 55

@WhittAcresHomestead 11 ай бұрын

Nice, pretty similar to mine. It's so heavy too, but is been working great keeping the birds safe. Well done

@GWPHomestead 11 ай бұрын

Moving it 8ft at a time makes it much more manageable. Any more than that and it's a load 😂 thanks for watching!

@maegardnermills4292 Жыл бұрын

Your children are great. All of the skills that you are teaching them is pure gold. Love your building. We are 70 and 79.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

That is very kind, thank you very much!

@SageandStoneHomestead Жыл бұрын

I ended up mounting the wheels to ours on the outside of the tractor. I kept running the wheels through the chicken poop and it was a mess to take them on and off.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

That’s a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that. Should be an easy fix if it becomes a problem!

@SageandStoneHomestead Жыл бұрын

For sure!

@SageandStoneHomestead Жыл бұрын

The Suscovich tractor is the best. The wind CAN and WILL flip that thing though, Ask me how I know lol. I didn't think ours would go anywhere but ours flew 400 feet across the field as heavy as it is WITH 40lbs of water hanging from it on the inside.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Appreciate the heads up! I'm sure that was a good strong wind that moved it.

@SageandStoneHomestead Жыл бұрын

It had to have been!!!

@20NewJourney23 6 күн бұрын

I came to the comments to look for this type of comment. In my area we often get 50+ mph wind and just last year our 12x7ft base hoop coop (with 3 cattle panels covered in tarps) lived and moved 15 feet away damaging one chicken that was crushed between a waterer on the ground and the frame of the coop. It was awful. I saw it happen. Nothing I could go except run out there and try to hang from the cattle panel to add my body weight to prevent it from continuing to fly away. Thankfully we have since anchored it to the ground with 4 t-posts pounded in at an angle around the frame (where if the coop were to be lifted (like with a tornado) the angle of the t-posts would hold it to the ground. It hasn't moved since, and we've had 70+ winds for a few days at a time since that incident. I'm looking to build a new coop and HATE the hoop coop, so maybe I'll build this style tractor but more beefy as an actual coop.

@SageandStoneHomestead 6 күн бұрын

@@20NewJourney23 I know the OP's farm personally and they hare surrounded by a lot of trees and have more hilly terrain. We have neither of those and the wind whips through here in such a scary way. We recently had some bad storms with a smaller tornado close by that knocked down limbs, trees, power lines everywhere. A couple structures destroyed. Their chicken tractors did not move!!! I'm jealous haha.

@merryanneadair4451 Жыл бұрын

That looks awesome! Loved seeing all the little carpenter's helpers! God bless!

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

They love helping out 😊 and it's so fun to spend time with them like this. God bless!

@merryanneadair4451 Жыл бұрын

@@GWPHomestead that's the way I grew up. Trailing after Dad! He was a full time farmer. He could build anything, fix anything, weld anything., raise any animal. I was extremely blessed by all he taught me over the years. He passed last May at just a couple months short of 100 years old! I will always miss him! You are teaching your kids far more than you know and even more important, you're making precious memories with your family!

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Your dad sounds like a heck of a guy and he must have lived a full and happy life! Thank you for sharing and for your kind words 😊

@TheOldSwedesFarm Жыл бұрын

A nice, quality design and build! Looks like you're ready for the chicks!

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Just about ready! Thanks so much!

@stonesoupsubstitutions6946 Жыл бұрын

That looks great! I'm excited to see your meat chickens!

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

We’re excited too!

@cindyboard7816 Жыл бұрын

Awesome build!!! Looks like your tank will be very useful on the farm for a long time. Who said good help is hard to find??!? Your extra hands were a valuable addition to the job site!!! Thanks for sharing your build with us. Stay safe guys!!!

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

They do a great job 😊 thank you Cindy!

@jamiedeer2674 Жыл бұрын

Awesome!! Love the look of it:) I’ll be trying this but lighter wood. Maybe 2*6. Great job everyone 👍🏽👍🏽

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

I think we're going to build another one... definitely lighter 😂 we do love how sturdy it is though!

@frankieboy2417 Жыл бұрын

Good job, I'm building a chicken palace and the biggest reason I started was pallets. I bought a pallet breakdown tool for seventy bucks. I found free pallets and started breaking them down without splitting the boards. I am buying some lumber but just the pallets I broke down so far have produced a couple thousand dollars of free lumber.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

We love using pallets, I’ve built some pretty nice things from them. The first raised garden beds we built were from pallets that my neighbor gave us. They were 12ft long and almost impossible to move by yourself.

@bruceshearer1719 2 ай бұрын

Perfect.....my friend 🇨🇦

@redlanternhomesteadcathym105 Жыл бұрын

Good job you guys!!!!!!!!!

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

@clintchilton10 7 ай бұрын

😂 I have a suggestion. Put your wheels on near the center on each side. It will make it easier to move.

@GWPHomestead 7 ай бұрын

If you can attach them in the center then absolutely go for it, thanks

@therealjetblack Жыл бұрын

Looks great. With open ends, how has it been as far as keeping the birds protected from rain?

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

I think it does pretty good. We've had some wind/rain/storms over the past week and while the birds do get a little wet I haven't noticed any moisture in their feeders so its doing a pretty good job of keeping the water out. It helps that the temperatures have been warm enough that freezing is not a concern, either. I think if we were going to have rain and then cold we'd need to take some extra precautions against that.

@geraldharper5281 Жыл бұрын

For holes use tar and aluminum tape or aluminum hvac tape

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Good tip - thanks!

@NorthernMontanaHomestead Жыл бұрын

Exterior caulking works great for those holes in your metal.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

I appreciate the tip, thanks!

@NorthernMontanaHomestead Жыл бұрын

@@GWPHomestead np love your channel brother. God bless you.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

God bless, man

@frankieboy2417 Жыл бұрын

Use a appliance dolly in the front when you're pulling it.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Good idea!

@KaleidoscopeJunkie 10 ай бұрын

RUST primer sealer - Mar Hyde !

@eduardonieto4693 5 ай бұрын

My freind what about it is a silver color what they use in moble home In home depole. For the roof of the Chciken track ter.

@brianlee9562 10 ай бұрын

I’ve used duct tape and gone over my rusty roof with rubberized roofing paint. It’s the kind used for house trailers and campers.

@GWPHomestead 10 ай бұрын

Good idea!

@LiviuNicoara 9 ай бұрын

where did you get the wheels from?

@GWPHomestead 9 ай бұрын

Harbor Freight

@davidfarm8095 Жыл бұрын

my frist one was heavy to. I use atv witch on my zero turn to move it. I also do not have flat land.

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

Hooking it up to a winch is a great idea, thanks for sharing!

@lelandeggleston1041 10 ай бұрын

Use a dolly in the front instead of lifting it by the rope.

@GWPHomestead 10 ай бұрын

Good idea!

@levistone6005 Жыл бұрын

I wonder how tin foil duct tape would hold up to cover those holes in the metal

@GWPHomestead Жыл бұрын

I never have luck with tape adhering to anything that it’s supposed to but if it’ll stick that would probably be a good solution.