The whole idea behind a chook tractor is that it is mobile, so that the chooks can work their magic over a large area over time without getting out to have ‘unauthorised’ fun. We have 14 veggie patches and move the chook tractor every two weeks so that the tractor sees each bed twice per year.
Some people use wheels on their tractors but that doesn’t work very well for our situation. If I had my time again, I would line the veggie patches up together so that the tractor could move from one patch to the next in rotation effortlessly. Due to the fact that our veggie patches evolved over many years before the tractor came along, our system is not like that.
What that means is the tractor needs to be moved lengthways, sideways and every which way around to get it into place. Also, due to its design, the way it faces will vary during the year, facing the sun in winter and vice versa in summer.
Another confounding factor is that quite often the chook tractor needs to be lifted while being moved to get it over the protruding tops of the ollas we use for irrigation in the veggie patches.
The upshot of all this was that I needed to install handholds of some description to allow the tractor to be carried to where it is needed.
The handholds varied a bit between the chook tractors that I have constructed over the years, (we are currently on 4th generation) and the photos below illustrate what I came up with. Unfortunately, they did not solve all problems.
First Gen - vertical handles on the mesh end, horizontal handles (similar to other generations) on the coop end.
Second Gen - horizontal handles on each end
Third Gen - horizontal lifting bar on each end
4th Gen - horizontal handles on each end
It still required a person on each end of the tractor and when my daughter and son-in-law were living with us that was not a problem, but when they moved out it meant that I needed someone else on the other end and that became a problem.
Linda is a tiny little thing and not up to carrying half the weight of the chook tractor, but after some consideration we came up with an idea that did work. I lift up one end and insert the nose plate of our hand trolley under it, Linda levers it back and I lift the other end and between the two of us we can move it around the yard to wherever it needs to go. If I am only shifting to the next bed along, I can usually lift it and move it across by myself.
But there has also been one other minor issue.
The beds along the western fence, which have Besser block borders, are 3 metres long (the chook tractor is 2 metres long) and the way I usually work it is to put the chook tractor on one end of the bed for a week, then move it a metre towards the fence so that the whole bed gets at least one week of chook. Unfortunately, moving the tractor towards the fence is not easy. I can drag it but I wind up between the tractor and the fence so I cannot get it right to the fence resulting in part of the bed missing out. Pushing from the other end does not work either due to the friction of the tractor base with the Besser blocks. I worked a way around it by placing some timber on the Besser blocks between the tractor and the fence, lifting the forward end of the tractor onto them, I could then slide the tractor forward with very little effort.
Job done!
If you want to know more about how we work with our chooks, download our free eBook: Chooks and the Choko Tree
