So What is a Chicken Tractor?

No, it's not a tractor with a chicken behind the wheel.  Nor is it a tractor with hens on a treadmill under the hood or bonnet.  A chicken tractor, also known as a chicken ark, is just an easily movable chicken coop with an attached run.  It is called a 'tractor' because it harnesses hen's natural scratching behaviour to cultivate a set area of ground, performing some of a tractor's functions on a smaller scale.  Chickens fertilize the ground as they work.

The Chicken Run

The run is an enclosed area where hens are free to roam most naturally without being entirely free-ranging.  Chicken tractors incorporate a run either attached to the house or under the house (as in our Chicken Tractors), or even both (as with our McClucker 4.0 Chicken Tractor).  The run gives chickens sunlight and fresh air, and hens can forage for plants and insects. Walk-in chicken coops may have attached runs, but because they are stationary are usually reduced to dirt in short order.  Usually walk-in coops are best suited to free range locations such as on farms where hens won't be close enough to harm gardens, while chicken tractors are great for keeping hens in town and closer to gardens which need protection from their grazing.

The Hen House

All hen coops have a 'house,' that's what makes them coops!  The house is the covered area of a tractor or ark with perches on which the chickens roost for the night and nestbox(es) where they lay eggs.  Though many chicken coops have floors, ours are intentionally left open by default so the roosting hens' droppings fall through the perches directly to the ground below.  This fertilizes that area and also decreases the frequency of house cleaning.  It also means the hens can still forage the ground when the weather is too wet or hot.

One thing you'll notice about a lot of walk-in chicken coops are the solid walls at the ground level and chicken wire up high where the perches for roosting are.  We feel that solid walls should be up high giving the birds protection from the wind and driving rain at night when they are sleeping; chicken wire down low allows angled sunlight in onto the ground during the day when chickens are off the perches.

Chicken Tractor At Capacity: Move Daily!

Regardless of what size of tractor you get, how often you move it really depends on how much the hens are ripping into the yard.  Most of our chicken tractors are designed for once daily movement when holding the maximum number of chickens and without any free-ranging...see the below diagram for an idea.  If hens are allowed to free-range as well, they will not scratch up the enclosed area as much and the chicken tractor can be left in place for even longer.

Chicken Tractor At Half Capacity: Move Every-Other Day!

This is just a rule of thumb of course.  Strictly speaking, you should be watching and learning how long it takes your chickens to eat down the grass to a level you are comfortable with, and then move it to the next patch.  Just like any other farming, this will vary according to time of year because of light, rain, temperature, and other factors that influence grass growth and your hens energy needs.  But it's not as hard as it sounds...just watch and when you're happy with what the chickens have done, move the chicken tractor.  The below diagram shows the tractor left in place for longer periods because of the lower chicken load.

Gardening With Chicken Tractors

Chicken tractors can be left in position in gardens for as long as you like, so long as you are still taking care of your chickens' needs.  Once the weeds and insect pests get devoured and little green remains, you'll have to toss the hens some greens yourself if you still want them in that spot.  Otherwise, move the chicken tractor on to another place you want worked over.  Using a series of raised beds sized to the chicken tractor makes this even easier...plant hen-friendly crops in the bed and when ready put the tractor on top.  Let the chickens browse what's there and work their manure into the soil.  When you are ready, move the chicken tractor to the next bed and get to work preparing your food crop on the raised bed the chickens just left!