Chicken Tractor For Egg Layers - Part 2

Building nesting boxes from Lowe's five gallon buckets to use in my chicken tractor.

[@npcwill283]

So much work when the girls are all going to lay in a single bucket ! My girls have a flower pot they all love ! They ignore every box we have built them and will wait in line at the flower pot in the corner of the coop !

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

That's funny and very true!! I could have gotten by with a few less buckets since I usually find all nine eggs in just 2-3 of them. They do use the others to roost in periodically. Thanks for the comment.

[@jessicawells7153]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll just do 2.. then one could add another if needed I guess. Thanks again!

[@Chipotle661944]

Thanks, I may use your idea on a Suscovich chicken tractor. I like being able access the eggs from outside.

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Great! After a year of use, they are working great. I have 9 hens and, knowing what I know now, would not do more than 3-4 buckets. They tend to lay in just two buckets. Hope it works for you.

[@johnthomas5806]

I like this set-up for getting eggs from the nest buckets..thanks

[@ranman5501]

That is a slick setup Thanks for sharing!

[@OzarkGeek]

Thanks for the details. I used them on a couple boxes I added to a new chicken run I recently built.

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Great! Hope they work well for you.

[@mattkissmyasstyrants8676]

Good job man.. off topic but for some reason i couldn't help but sense a bit of brick mason in the way you approached the project.

[@jdjz62]

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing! Excellent video!

[@cyn4662]

This is awesome! Thanks so much for the video 😊

[@flippincrazyfarmboy1849]

Gr8 idea there! Glad to see some new innovation!

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Thanks. It has worked well for me.

[@upstatecre8]

Idea of the year!!!! Thank you!

[@grantstewart8698]

Ingenious, great job

[@shaniaa9287]

So tricky but looks great

[@dahmanahmed]

great idea, good job

[@knarlyknuckles6199]

Great idea!

[@whynotjusttry5401]

How has the nesting been working out?
I am in the design stage for a new chicken tractor for laying hens and just watched this video.
Do you have another video of how they are working and if you like them.

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Thanks for the comment. The nesting has been working great! 9 hens have been laying eggs in them since August of 2020. Here's a link to my latest video... czcams.com/video/csvwBj18G4A/video.html

[@tclodfelter8789]

That's finer than frog hair!!

[@riverharold5169]

What kind of wood did you use an how many?

[@sharriceowens913]

I'm trying to understand do chickens get cold in tractors during the winter? Do they need a coop during the winter?

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

We are in a warmer climate and our chickens wintered well in the tractor. For colder nights, I ran a heat lamp to give added warmth. I try to keep the wind off of them with a tarp.

[@westtrindy9176]

We’ve had Raccoons get into things with a lot better “latches” than what you have there with the wire. I would recommend something more secure to protect your flock.

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Thanks for the suggestion. So far, a year and a half without racoons but I do have a tarp hanging over the outside of the buckets and we keep the chicken tractor within a Premier1 electrified fence.

[@sharoncourt75]

Is neat but uses alot of materials, why not just make a litte acces door and have 2 or buckets inside

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Thanks for the comment. I did remove the four buckets on the sides of the tractor and left the four in the rear. Four is plenty for 8-10 hens.

[@usafsoc]

Square buckets are probably easier for us to mount.

[@fakawat7220]

i made it so eggs could roll down

[@jessicawells7153]

Again, love this! materials list/avg. cost? I’m going to steal some of your ideas lol thanks!

[@combaheeoutdoors1663]

Thanks Jessica. It has been functioning very well for me. I just built another egg-layer tractor modeled after Joel Salatin's design. I'll have a video coming out shortly for that build with cost information. There will also be another video with a DIY wheel kit that will work on all chicken tractors. Hope they will be of help to you!