What is a Chicken Tractor?

Simply put, it is a portable pen. The purpose being to enable poultry to forage on fresh pasture the way Nature intended. There is no bottom to these pens and the sides and top are open to allow maximum exposure to sunshine and fresh air. They are labor-intensive to move twice daily and are built here on the farm.  Putting poultry in a yard (unless it is large enough to provide continual, ample forage) or a non-movable pen (sometimes referred to as "ranging") is not quite the same. Why is that if they are in fresh air and sunshine? Because after a very short time, the area they are kept in is reduced to dirt and manure. Chickens forage, its what they do. If all they have to forage on is dirt, spilled feed and manure.....well that is a formula for disease causing bacteria of all sorts. By moving them to fresh pasture or assuring them ample space we are providing them as healthy an environment as we can. Our birds are healthy and happy which is passed on to our customers in the form of a good tasting, good-for-you product. We feel its well worth the effort and cost.

**UPDATE**

After 2 years of using the chicken tractors, we were amazed at the improvement in the quality of our pasture. The grass is lush and almost weed free.

We have been planning our rotational grazing system for our other grazers and have decided to include our poultry in the system as well. We will be using paddocks with portable shelters. The livestock will be rotated through the different paddocks to prevent over grazing and to assist the pasture in becoming healthier. Although the chicken tractors worked well, the labor involved in moving them around the pasture is considerable. We feel that by rotational grazing, the animals will not only get a wider range of dietary selection but will also have a positive effect on the pasture health over a wider range.

We plan to use this system for 2 years and compare results. So, the chicken tractors will become chicken shelters.