Monster in the Making

I wanted to make sure that the chicken tractor I was building would not fall apart, the frame is pressure treated wood, the bottom part of the frame I used 2"x6"x 12' pieces for the long sides...I originally planned to make it more like a sled so that I could pull it to different areas.  It really ended up being too heavy for that, so we decided to put wheels on it...I ordered some 10" never flat wheels thinking I could make the chicken tractor something like a wheel barrow...using handles to lift and move it, but...my husband built the door on the front in a way that it was not possible.  The chicken tractor is six feet tall at the tallest point, 4 feet wide and 12 feet long.  The coop section is built 2 feet off of the ground and is about 4 feet square with the roof at a slant so water drains off toward the back.  I changed up my plans and modified the design a few times, part at my husbands urging...partly because I had only an outside view drawn and forgot a few things.  Hey, I had never built anything like this before...and sometimes you have to be flexible.

I made the sides first, 2"x4"'s for the main parts of the frame, 2"x2" for the stays to staple the wire mesh for support.

We used what we thought we pressure treated plywood on the coop section, but I think part of it was regular plywood, I have not painted it because I thought it was pressure treated...I will have to do something about it soon.  We used 3/4 inch plywood on the bottom of the coop and I think 1/2 inch plywood on the sides trimmed with cedar we had to because the door was warped and the additional wood straightened it out.  We used vinyl flooring inside of the coop and nest boxes, but I got a plastic tray that I can remove to make it easier to clean.  I believe it is for an extra large dog crate.

When you build a coop or tractor, you have to have plenty of access to all areas.  You need to be able to get to the food and water easily, you need to make it easy to clean out...chickens poop ALOT, chickens like to roost when they sleep...I thought they slept in the nest boxes, nope.  You also need to be able to get to your chickens if they are hurt or sick.  You also need to protect them from harm, they dig...and so do dogs, so it is a good idea to use a sturdy wire mesh instead of chicken wire.  I used 1/4" mesh on the sides of the chicken tractor, because I have dogs...and I didn't want them getting ahold of the chicken by the toe and biting off parts or pulling them out of the holes.  In hind site I wish I had used 1/2" square mesh so grasshoppers could get in the tractor easier and if I wanted to throw mealworms or scratch grains in I could.  We used 2"x4" welded wire fencing on the bottom of the chicken tractor, so nothing can dig up underneath and have a chicken dinner.

In Texas, we have very hot summers.  We wanted to try and give the chickens plenty of shade and didn't want a metal roof on the coop part.  We used something called Ondura, it is a lighter weight roofing material that does not transfer heat...or so it says on the coop roof.  We had some leftover smoke polycarbonate that we used on top of the chicken run to protect them from too much sun and the rain.  I have heard that chickens can drown from standing in the rain...I am not sure about that, but better safe than sorry.  I don't want to contribute to any chickens death because we didn't build something properly.