We have a chicken tractor that is 3' wide and about 8' long and about 4' high but I don't think it really needs to be that tall. We have 8 young chickens in it. That is all I use mine for is to put young chickens in after I take them from the Momma until they are large enough to go into the pen with the others. They seem to have plenty of room.

We made ours from pvc pipe and chicken wire. Hubby made the frame using the pipe, elbows and T's and then put the wire over it. He tied the wire to the frame with regular wire. On the lower part he put hardcloth which helps keep intruders out. It is very light and easy to move but sturdy enough to keep the chickens in and varmints out.

We need to make a couple more because I have 19 young chicks that are going to need to have space in a couple of weeks. Then I have a hen setting on four eggs if they hatch she and her babies will need a place to stay until she is ready to leave her chicks.

Hope this helps some.
Jan

You can make easy and good tractors from truck caps. we used one from a small Datsun truck for years.

mine is a little more elaborate. it requires a tractor to pull it. its made of lumber and is 10x10. wait. maybe its 8x8. i have nest boxes built into it that are accessable from the outside by people and the inside for my hens. theres about 30 layers that live in it but i've had as many as 50 or so in the past. there is no floor. i've been pulling it around my field for more than 10 years. theres an electric poultry netting fence that i move with it. the fence is about 150' long.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:48176}}

Great advice here. :) I don't do chicken tractors myself as I have a regular coop and a large backyard enclosed with a cinderblock fence, so I can't help much in that department. But I think two other things to consider are making it accessible to YOU, in case you have a bird that is sick or injured and needs to be gotten out of there quickly, and to make sure that the inside of the tractor is safe--no sharp edges, wire to get tangled in, etc. Chickens are amazingly good at getting into trouble. :)

If you click on my 'My Page' link there is tons of chicken info there that might help you if you are new to chickens.

Enjoy your flock! :)

Velvet ~:>

velvet, I was kind of thinking the same thing. My grandparents always had coops that we walked into. They lived in Illinois and the birds spent almost all winter in the coop.

I don't have that problem in South Carolina but I built a coop and pen big enough for me to be able to walk into an move around in. On days that I couldn't let them out they still had plenty of room to move about.

Wow thanks for all the good information!
Jan what size pvc did your husband use? Depending on how tall the CT is I might make the to open. I want it to be heavy enough so that the wind doesn't blow them over, but not to heavy for me to move easily. I've used pvc to make a cage for my iguana, and I thought about sealing the pvc an filling it with water.
Velvet your page has a lot of very useful and interesting info I've been sharing it with my brother. Thank you. When we had about 7 chickens an the 3 turkeys they all came down with fowl pox (i'm pretty sure that's what it's called) The birds got all scabby on their heads an feet. So far thats the only health problems they've had.
The reason I'm thinking of doing the tractors is I don't really have the space to put a coop an run yet. Also to keep them out of my garden beds.
Here's a little more on my situation. We live in the city with a yard that's about 1/2 an acre. There is a wooded area behind an a park across from us. So we have 'coons, possums, hawks, and cats to contend with, though we haven't lost any to predators yet. Our dogs an cat keep the critters out pretty well.
We have 15 hens an 2 roosters, 3 BB bronze turkeys, and two pearle guinea fowl. The turkeys and a couple of chickens are going to be slaughtered soon. We get our chickens from the feed store down the street so we have like 10 different breeds of chickens.
Again thanks to all of you who responded.

Here is a link that might be useful: This page has pictures of chicken tractors

Lyam, WOW, That was a great gallery! You might even turn me into a tractor convert :-).

Lots of good ideas at that site. I'll be building a tractor this winter and plan to start buying meat birds in groups of 25 in the spring. It needs to be light enough for one person to drag around the field, yet strong enough to keep out critters. I'm still trying to determine how large it needs to be though.