50 Chickens in an 8ftX10ft tractor?

[saddina]

We do 8 weeks raising, 2 weeks off 8 on, during the warmer months (Feb-Oct), Next weekend I'll be brining about 77 birds (the only place I pull the "I am a girl" thing is when it comes to bulk processing, I end up managing the brining and resting, and packaging.

My grandparents do the birds for the family at thier place, and my willingness to fuss with ice and thermometers puts me in the garage with the chilling, everyone else thinks I'm the nutty one for taking the longest job (I bring a laptop and write papers while waiting for digital beeping).

 

[UncleHoot]

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Yeah! That's where I built my first one from. Back then, I didn't even know that meat chickens don't roost.

Since then, that 10x10 pen has become my layers' "Summer Coop". I made a couple modifications, like putting a side door in the back, and put some corrugated vinyl roofing on it. It's quite a bit heavier, but I only move it every few days, since the layers spend half the day free-ranging. I'll try to post a picture of how it looks now, but here it is when it was new.

I've made some improvements to the design of the PVC pen over the last couple years. I made a 10x12 last year, with 2 top doors, and this year I made a 10x13 which has a side door as well, so sometimes in the evenings, I pop that open, and they get to "free range" for awhile.

I'm going to make an honest effort to put together a "how-to", and I'll keep it as part of my signature. Here's a pic of the frame of the 10x12.

 

[jaku]

Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil :

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Oh wow! Thanks so much for the link!! I've been wanting to do PVC cold frames and row covers and havn't had time to draw them out. This is great! I like the idea of the coop from pvc too.

Do you have to anchor it down or is it heavy enough by itself?

Are you able to take it apart for storage when your done for the season?

The only time I had to anchor it was during REALLY windy days, and even then, it never blew away, just slid a couple of feet, so I anchored it rather than taking the chance that it would blow over. You can't really take it apart unless you do a lot of work, so I'm going to hang mine upside down up against the garage ceiling (hopefully it works!!)​

 

[Freebird]

If you don't mind sayin', how much did you guys spend on those PVC tractors? I thought about building one, but the cost of the fittings seemed high compared to building with wood.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

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I tried to price them once, by making a list of materials and pricing them at Lowes. I think the total came out around $70-80+

I hope I was wrong, I look forward to hearing the replies as well.

-Kim

 

[Freebird]

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That's about what I figured it to be as well, Kim. There are some advantages of the PVC over wood, though. Easier and faster assembly, lighter weight (which could also be a disadvantage depending on your needs), and possibly longer lasting. I ended up using treated 2x4s which I ripped lengthwise down the middle, which was much cheaper than buying treated 2x2s. I used my ripped "2x2"s to cut down on weight, which worked out pretty well. The frame is extremely sturdy, but required a lot of braces to be cut and screwed into position, so it was time-consuming to build compared to working with PVC, I think. I still ended up with around $60 in wood, deck screws, wheels and hinges for an 8x6 tractor. I could have easily made it a bit larger for about the same price, but wanted to keep it on the small side until I determine just how many chickens per year I can eat.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

See, I would have thought that wood would have lasted longer than PVC. Simply because the PVC used in these plans is only 1" in diameter and it seems pretty flimsy in the stores. I think it would warp fairly easily, but then again that's just me and my assumptions.

How well does PVC hold up compared to wood?

-Kim

 

[jaku]

The specialized fittings cost about $60 on mine if I recall. You can't get them at regular stores, only online, as the plumbing industry doesn't have much use for a 5 way PVC fitting. Then add the PVC pipe, (I think about 20,) which are about $2 each. Get the Schedule 40 pipe- it's much stronger and holds up. Then you have the cost of the wire, which can vary depending on whether you use hardware cloth or chicken wire. I used chicken wire on the top, which saved me a ton. After that you just have the cost of a tarp and zip ties to attach the wire. It's not much more than wood, and it's ridiculously lighter. I had a wooden one for only one season, then sold it on Craigslist because it was too darned heavy!

 

[UncleHoot]

For the last one I built, a 10x13 "heavy duty" PVC pen, it ended up being around $280, including tarp ($30), bungee's ($10), and zip ties ($5). That includes around 25 pieces of 10' PVC from Lowe's at about $2.40 each ($60), the chicken wire (2' x 50' and 5'x50') for around $60, and the special fittings which were about $115 shipped. The only generic fittings that you can use are the elbow joints for the doors, and they are dirt cheap from Lowe's.

A heavy duty tarp will still need to be replaced each year. A light-duty tarp will last about half the summer, enough for probably one batch.

With the added PVC pipes, this ends up being a bit heavier than the original 10x10 design, but even my wife can move it by herself, although she says it's not easy. Personally, I think it's pretty easy to move. The hard part is getting all 70+ chickens to move along with it.

The one feature that I still don't have perfected is the roof. Even with the added roof supports, the rain tends to build up on the tarp during strong storms, and can really put a strain on the structure. I'm wondering if a gambrel style roof would be the best option.

 

[jaku]

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I had the same problem with the roof. You just can't get the tarp tight enough to make all the water flow off of it. I think the gambrel roof would be good, or somehow put a cross piece in the middle on each side, to keep it from catching enough rain to sag.

I also added wheels to my PVC pen, which makes it extra easy to move.