How to Build a Chicken Tractor or Movable Coop

Movable chicken coops, sometimes called tractors, protect and contain chickens, while allowing them to range around the yard or farm. Chickens in a movable coop eat grass and bugs like a free-range chicken, but they lay their eggs in a safe little coop, so the owner easily finds and collects all of the eggs. Movable chicken coops come in many different forms and sizes, because people often build them from scrap materials. They often include a wood, metal, or PVC plastic frame, a small wooden or sheet metal hen house on one end, a run with chicken wire enclosure, and small wheels and handles at opposite ends.

Things You'll Need

  • 2 10-foot 2-by-4 boards
  • 5 8-foot 2-by-4 boards
  • Table saw or chop saw
  • Wood screws
  • Screwdriver
  • 4 4-foot-by-8-foot plywood sheets
  • Circular saw
  • 2 metal hinges
  • 20-foot roll of 4-foot chicken wire
  • Wire cutter
  • Wood staples
  • Staple gun
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Instructions

  1. Build the Frame

    • 1

      Place two 10-foot 2-by-4 boards, about 4-feet apart and parallel to each other, with the two-inch side on the ground.

    • 2

      Cut an 8-foot 2-by-4 in half with a table saw or chop saw to make two 4-footers. Place them on the ground across each end of the 10-footers. Square them up, and fasten them together at each corner with wood screws.

    • 3

      Repeat step one and two to make two 4-foot-by-10-foot rectangular frames; one for the floor and one for the roof of the chicken tractor.

    • 4

      Cut six lengths of 44-inch 2-by-4 sections from the remaining 8-foot 2-by-4 boards. Use a table saw or a chop saw.

    • 5

      Place the floor frame flat on the ground, and attach a 44-inch 2-by-4 vertically on top of each corner of the floor frame to create the frame for the walls.

    • 6

      Measure three feet from one end of the floor frame along both 10-foot boards. Attach another 44-inch 2-by-4 vertically on top of the floor frame at each of these locations to create extra support for the hen house.

    • 7

      Lift the roof frame, and set it on top of the vertical 44-inch 2-by-4 wall corners. Have someone help to hold the frame in place, while another person screws the roof frame down to the wall corners and supports.

    Build the Hen House

    • 8

      Cut two 4-foot-by-4-foot sections and four 3-foot-by-4-foot sections of plywood.

    • 9
      An opening centered, or slightly off-centered, close to the ground works well.

      Create an open door passage into the hen house for the chickens. Cut a 1-foot-by-1-foot square opening along the bottom of one 4-by-4 plywood section with a circular saw.

    • 10

      Place the chicken door along the ground and attach the plywood to the vertical boards at the 3-foot mark of the frame.

    • 11

      Create a rectangular hen house by enclosing the 3-foot-by-4-foot section of frame. Use the cut plywood sheets as the outer walls and the floor. Reserve one 3-foot-by-4-foot plywood sheet for the roof.

    • 12

      Attach the metal hinges to one of the 4-foot sides of the plywood roof. Place the roof aside. The hinged roof creates an access point to reach in and retrieve eggs and to clean the hen house.

    Enclose the Chicken Run

    • 13

      Cut the last 4-foot-by-8-foot plywood sheet down to 4-feet-by-7-feet.

    • 14

      Lift the 4-foot-by-7-foot plywood sheet, and place it on top of the 7-foot section of the frame. Secure the plywood to the frame with 1-inch screws.

    • 15

      Put the 3-foot-by-4-foot plywood hen house roof in place above the hen house, and attach the free end of the hinges to the plywood roof of the chicken run.

    • 16

      Pull the chicken wire tightly across each open side of the frame. Attach the wire to the wood with wood staples.