How to Set Up a Chicken Tractor Without Losing Your Mind

Your meat birds are healthy, growing fast, and pretty much ready to turn your brooder into a biohazard if they stay stuck in place. Time to get them out on grass, and that’s what a chicken tractor is for.

A chicken tractor is simply a movable pen that gives your birds fresh grass to forage and fertilize every day. They stay clean, they live naturally, and your pasture stays alive instead of turning into mud. It’s a system that’s been working longer than electricity, and it still makes sense today.

What Makes a Good Tractor
• Light enough to move by hand, strong enough to keep predators out
• A solid roof for rain and shade
• Wire sides for airflow and protection
• Enough room for your flock, ideally two square feet per bird

How to Use It Well
• Move it once or twice a day
• Keep the feed and water inside the tractor so the birds can’t camp out away from fresh grass
• Place it on lush grass to let the land recover behind them

Bonus Tip
Don’t let them stay in one spot too long. Chickens are great at fertilizing, but if they stay too long in one place, they’ll burn the patch. Move them, then enjoy the lush, green grass behind the tractor.

Fun Fact
Move fifty birds across your pasture for six weeks, and they’ll fertilize over 3,000 square feet of land. No tillage needed, and cheaper than a bag of synthetic fertilizer.

Here’s the tractor plan I mentioned in Week One
I gave you one of the best chicken tractors we ever built. It’s been standing for years, still going strong. Here it is again on Amazon:
Stress-Free Chicken Tractor
This is an affiliate link. If you buy through it, it’s the best way to support this newsletter while getting yourself a proven design.

Coming Up Next
Week Four is processing day. I’ll take you through what to expect, what gear you need, and how to make it happen smoothly without turning it into a four-hour ordeal.

Keep that grass growing and those birds moving. You’re doing well.

— Tim Parker
Start My Homestead