Chicken Habitat

For the hens I will be building 2 chicken tractors.

A tractor is a coop that is mobile in some way or another. Some tractors are very large (50 -100 or more) with wheels that you would have to pull with a mower, tractor or horses and have little to no fencing beyond the fence around the field it is in at the time. The chickens simply stay close to the tractor for the most part for shade food and water and a place to roost or lay eggs off the ground. You could feasibly make a boxed in fence run that was pretty huge and on wheels attached to the hen house if you felt the need. Or move it separately. What they need is safety from predators and inclement weather.

Others are medium sized with wheels and can house quite a few depending on dimensions and still be moved by one or two people. Barely. So be careful!

The ones we are going to make are compact but roomy. Perches and nest are above with plenty of wide ground space below. This will enable us to know where the chickens are at all times as well as keep them safe from predators and still allow them to be 'free' range.

These coops will be moved every second day or so. They will never run out of food this way. The chickens will aerate and fertilize the place they are in for those two days and then get moved to a fresh space ( 4-5 feet over, or the width of the foot print) where there is once again everything they need. We can even put this over a portion of the garden and have them do the work for us before planting time :) Here is a picture of the type of coop we will be building. They are very light weight and can be moved by one person if it has wheels or you move one end and then the other, however, they are light enough for my DD9 and I to move together. And they are simple easy and beautiful :) Perfect! If you would like a copy of the plans for this type of coop I can give you the link, just ask in the comment section :)

These little coop tractors will house enough chickens for a family to have eggs and are easy to make a little bigger or in half to make them smaller and are perfect for the urban back yard. No mess, no smell and lots of eggs. Children love it!

In many areas you can have chickens even in the city. Make sure there are no CC & R's barring it, if there are you may need to get creative as you will need to convince your neighbors that they will not be bothered, and check with the city officials if you are unsure. A safe way to appease you neighbors is to go rooster free :) Just know that eventually one hen will stop laying and pretend to be a rooster! Isn't that funny?!

We raise heritage breeds and allow our mother hens to hatch naturally but at times it is necessary to move them and there clutch and or brood to the broody coop for safety from the other chickens. We also raise chicks for other families and use these broody coops for those purposes when they just come from a hatchery and not our hens. Pics of the broody coops are forthcoming! We have been using these for about four years now and they are marvelous!

Our current large stationary coop area will now only be used for an intermediate pen. A pen to be used in between the broody coop and moving a to a knew home or to be butchered or to the tractor. Since we have been having drainage issues with this area and it is over inundated with nitrogen I will be adding ashes and tilling it up. We will then add drainage stones and pipe and sand before I put the soil back down with some nice compost and replant. It will be nice and green again.