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How To Build An A-Frame DIY Chicken Tractor That Will Last: Our Chicken Tractor Story

4/15/2021

36 Comments

 
How to build an A-frame mobile chicken tractor that will last
Are you curious about the journey behind our DIY A-Frame chicken coop tractors? In this post I am going to share with you why we decided to design and build our own unique A-frame chicken tractor for our backyard hens. Lastly, I'll share with you how you can get your hands on our A-frame chicken coop tractor build plans so you can build one for your backyard or homestead!

My very first flock of backyard chickens clocked in at seven beautiful hens. After researching and reading as much as I could on how best to raise laying hens, I decided to let them free-range because pastured chickens are the happiest and healthiest. 


Why? Being able to forage for bugs and grubs allows them a diverse diet, lots of sunshine, and never ending entertainment. Keeping hens on grass also provides us the healthiest eggs possible thanks to their higher beta-carotene, choline, and omega-3 levels. It was win-win in my book. 

So after a few weeks of free-ranging my very first flock, imagine my dismay when I came out to check on my girls and found feathers and blood everywhere. My heart sank as I did a headcount and found two of my girls missing. A hawk had been through my flock and thus began the conundrum that most backyard chicken owners face. Do you let your hens free-range and take the risk of a predator attack or do you keep them cooped up and safe and limit their diet and their happiness?
Letting chickens free range the risks versus a chicken tractor
I choose to risk it, but it came at a cost that didn’t just concern my hens’ safety. It came at the cost of my peace of mind. Since I worked from home, I was able to keep an eye on them, but my anxiety for their safety kept disrupting my day. I checked on my hens every 30 minutes, doing head counts, or calling them over for treats. While the constant monitoring definitely improved the relationship I had with my hens, it was starting to wear on me. I’m sure as a fellow chicken momma or papa - you’ve felt this same anxiety and responsibility for your backyard flock.

I decided I needed to find a solution that would keep my hens safe from predators, but would also offer them the benefits of free-ranging on grass. What I needed was an A-frame chicken coop tractor.

When I started researching A-frame chicken coop tractors I quickly realized three crucial things:

  1. If I wanted to purchase an A-frame chicken tractor ready to go for my flock of 8 hens, I was looking at forking out over $2000. I started backyard chickens to cut costs, not splurge. Buying some sort of chicken tractor brand new was not an option for me.
  2. The chicken tractor designs I found online were ugly. Plain and simple. They used things like plastic tarps (that tore in a matter of months, warranting spending more money over time) or were basically backyard eye-sores that I know my neighbors would not appreciate. I wanted something beautiful and built to last, but I was coming up empty handed
  3. The mobility of the the A-frame chicken coop tractors I was finding was extremely questionable for a 135 lb. female like myself. I wanted to move my flock every day to a fresh patch of grass. I didn’t want something bulky that was supposed to be pulled on sliders. I wanted easy and efficient mobility but I kept coming up short.
Kelsey and Paul who designed the chicken tractors

Hubby Of The Year goes to my husband for these A-Frame Chicken Coop Tractors!

My wonderful husband watched patiently as I continued to get more and more frustrated, all the while letting my flock free-range. Then, I lost two more hens and a rooster to a pernicious hawk. I was at the end of my rope. I admitted to him in tears that I might as well throw in the towel completely. I wasn’t cut out for owning hens because my heart couldn’t take losing them nor could it take keeping them cooped up like prisoners for their own safety. 

He then sat me down and asked, “What would you build if you could do it completely from scratch?”

I thought for a moment and told him to get me a pencil and paper. Then, I started to draw out what I saw in my head. Using his decade of experience as an engineer, he helped me design the basic idea I had. We talked through all the basic predator scenarios we had encountered and how best to mitigate them with our design. We also talked through my daily workflow with feeding, watering, and gathering eggs and made further design tweaks that would make my life as a chicken momma a heck of a lot easier. 

Using this pencil and paper design, my husband went to work on CAD and drafted the designs within a 3-D model. A trip to Menards and one Amazon order later - we set to working building our very first Mobile Chicken Tractor. The build took us about 20 hours in total and we learned a lot along the way, making further tweaks to the design so that the next build would be even easier.
A-frame chicken tractor plans Green Willow homestead's chicken tractor building plans

Welcome to the Mini + Medium + Mega A-Frame Chicken Coop Tractors!


A-frame chicken tractor plans The chicken tractor building plans come in three different sizes

The Mini Chicken Tractor

A-frame chicken tractor plans Mini chicken tractor building plans from Green Willow Homestead
  • Flock size: 4 - 6 hens
  • Nesting Boxes: 1+ (sized to fit three hens at once)
  • Dimensions: 6’W x 8’L x 5.5‘H
  • Estimated Materials Cost: $550 - $650*
  • Build Time: 20 hours
*Please note the price of lumber has been higher than estimated over the last year
This Mini A-Frame Chicken Coop Tractor was perfect for our small flocks of 4-6 hens before we upgraded to small-scale farming. On our homestead we used this mini as a chicken ICU for injured hens or for our pullets (our youngest hens). It's perfect for suburban backyard chickens.

The Medium Chicken Tractor

A-frame chicken tractor plans Medium chicken tractor building plans from Green Willow Homestead
  • Flock Size: 6 - 10 hens
  • Dimensions: 6’W x 10’L x 5.5’H​
  • Nesting Boxes: 4
  • Estimated Materials Cost: $600- $700
  • Build Time: 22 hours
*Please note the price of lumber has been higher than estimated over the last year
This Medium A-Frame Chicken Coop Tractor we built is  my go-to for our flocks of 6 - 10 hens. I love moving it around our backyard, letting our hens "mow" our grass and clover (and eat all  our ticks too!). This size is perfect for hobby farms and suburban backyard chickens.

The Mega Chicken Tractor

A-frame chicken tractor plans Large chicken tractor building plans from Green Willow Homestead
  • Flock Size: 15 - 20 hens
  • Dimensions: 8’W x 10’L x 7’H
  • Nesting Boxes: 4
  • Estimated Materials Cost: $750 - $850*
  • Build Time: 24 hours
*Please note the price of lumber has been higher than estimated over the last year
We actually built two Mega A-Frame Chicken Coop Tractors for our small farm! We house 15-20 hens in each tractor and move them one full  space a day on our 3-acre pasture. I love this tractor because it makes our farm's pastured egg operation efficient and easy. They are beautiful to look at too - customers love them!

In creating our very own A-Frame chicken coop tractor design, we solved multiple issues for ourselves...


The chicken tractor design is durable and safe
Thanks to the galvanized steel fencing, our hens were safe from aerial predators like hawks, owls, and eagles. We have yet to lose a single hen inside these tractors in the last five years.
The a-frame chicken tractor keeps your hens safe from predators
The roosting area is protected from below. The roosting area is accessed by a ramp that operates on a pulley system to keep the hens shut up safe at night. We live in a wildlife corridor that has everything from coyotes to weasels to raccoons (some of our neighbors even claim mountain lions but I doubt that!). Again, it’s been five years and we have not lost a single hen.
The a-frame chicken tractor can hold up to 15 hens
The building codes where we live are extremely strict. By building a mobile structure, we were able to circumvent the red tape so many landowners are faced with when they want to build a coop for their hens.

The timeless A-frame design is absolutely beautiful. The corrugated metal roofing will never rust and the wooden frame is treated with an eco-stain that prevents it from molding. This eco-friendly stain is non-toxic for both the soil life and our hens. We wanted to build it once and have it last.

A-frame chicken tractor plans Homesteader and farmer Kelsey Jorissen loves her chickens
The unique wheel design we came up with makes the structure easy to move on a daily basis as well as be maintenance-free. We have yet to see this wheel design for a chicken tractor elsewhere online. This has been the biggest godsend as a woman who, while strong, doesn’t have to throw her back out pushing the tractors across her backyard!

​
By moving the tractor once a day, we gently fertilize our lawn while not killing the grass. To keep our chicken’s manure from burning the grass, we sprinkle a little PDZ powder (an organic-certified mineral that binds to excess nitrogen) over the previous tractor spot after moving it. Our lawn is healthy, lush, and green!
Example of a-frame chicken tractor by Green Willow Homestead
The design has both front and back access to the tractor. This makes feeding, watering, and routine vet-care so much easier on us. The design also has exterior nesting box access, which makes the chore of gathering eggs a breeze. 

After building three of our very own chicken tractors, we kept getting asked for the plans. We realized other chicken owners would benefit from our unique and durable design, so that's why we created the A-Frame Chicken Tractor Build Plans.


The A-Frame Chicken Tractor Building Plans from Green Willow Homestead
My engineering-inclined husband set to work on computer aided design (CAD) software and 3D modeled the entire design.
​
The build plans come as a downloadable + printable PDF and come with all the information needed to get started:
​
  • A materials list with links to specific items you'll need.
  • 40+ pages of step-by-step instructions with detailed diagrams, drawings, and pictures.
  • A bonus section with tips and tricks we implement to make the tractor work to our benefit.
 A single tractor will take on average 20 - 24 hours of construction time based on skill level. While most of the tractor can be built solo, a second set of hands will definitely make a handful of steps much easier.

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To date, over 4000 mobile chicken coop tractors have been built around the world using our build plans!



Kelsey Jorissen of Green Willow Homestead designed the chicken tractor build plans with her husband
If you would have told me five years ago that my anxiety and worry would end up helping more than just my own chickens, that the solution we came up with would end up helping flocks around the world - I wouldn't have believed you. I am so grateful to be able to share these build plans with other chicken mamas and papas all across the globe.

​Got questions before you purchase the build plans?

Read through our FAQ section!

READ FAQS

How to build a DIY A-Frame Mobile Chicken Tractor that will last Green Willow Homestead
How to build a DIY A-frame chicken tractor that will last and our experience
36 Comments
Christie
5/17/2020 10:20:14 pm

Love your tractor and interested in it

Reply
Eric
5/27/2020 12:35:40 pm

How much do each of the 3 different sizes weigh when completed?

Reply
Kelsey
5/28/2020 05:24:48 am

Probably about 150-200lbs. Remember though with our design, pulling and pushing is easy!

Reply
Niya Frayer
5/28/2020 07:17:41 pm

How does this work in snow? I live in Michigan and we have found it very handy to have a covered chicken run to keep the bad weather out

Reply
Kelsey
5/29/2020 06:44:22 am

Hi Niya! Click the read FAQs button at the bottom of the post and that will take you to the section where we address this very question!

Reply
Emily
3/16/2021 07:52:27 am

Can the bigger one be made to be shorter? I love the concept but 7ft seems a bit tall

Reply
Ruthie link
7/27/2020 06:23:50 am

I'm wondering, do you have any videos of you pulling the tractor? I'm about the same height and weight, so I'd love to see everything in action. I just purchased the mega bundle.

Reply
Kelsey
7/27/2020 09:18:03 am

Hi Ruthie, yes, If you head to my Instagram profile and check out my highlights I have examples @kelseyjorissen.

I will say that I usually push it from behind instead of pulling it from the front. I'll pivot from the front when I'm turning, but I find pushing to be just slightly easier!

Reply
Melanie J
8/9/2020 06:36:40 pm

Hi! Great looking tractor!
This looks as though it has a decent sized gap at the bottom.
Is there chicken wire on the bottom because we would have foxes in there getting the girls every day. I can’t tell from the pics. Thank you!

Reply
Kelsey
8/10/2020 05:38:44 am

We recommend adhering another strip of hardware cloth to close the gap in that case!

Reply
Ashley Chen
3/3/2021 07:42:44 pm

Do you have problems with the hens escaping from under the sides?

Reply
Kelsey
9/25/2021 09:35:26 am

Only if you have pullets in there. Full grown hens stay in just fine!

Rhonda K
9/11/2020 04:30:48 am

I live in Texas were the summers are hot! My concern is that there is not enough ventilation and the coop will be too hot using steel material. Any suggestions?

Reply
Kelsey
9/11/2020 07:04:14 am

Hi Rhonda, great question! The white steel paneling actually reflects the heat of the sun. We've have multiple customers build our tractors in growing zone 9/10 with no issues!

Reply
Sarah
10/3/2020 06:03:10 pm

Do you close these up any further for winter to retain heat? We’re in West Virginia.

Reply
Kelsey
10/5/2020 05:25:22 am

Yup! Click the FAQ button at the bottom of the post to learn how we winterize. :)

Reply
aliza link
10/26/2020 06:34:21 am

Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for such kinda informative post and your post looks very interesting for me.

Reply
Dave
11/19/2020 05:57:04 am

They look good but are they good enough for winters?

Reply
Kelsey
11/20/2020 09:47:05 am

Hi Dave - yup! Check out to FAQ section by clicking the link at the end of the article to learn more.

Reply
Ruth
12/7/2020 07:35:49 am

Great stuff, it looks like there's no door to open and close daily, raising and lowering a ramp instead? I am looking for plans that can accommodate an automatic door. Could this be modified to use an automatic door?

Reply
Kelsey
12/7/2020 07:51:05 am

Hi Ruth - yes you can! I am creating an additional FAQ that answers this question. Click the button at the bottom of my blog post so you can read on.

Reply
Brittany T
3/4/2021 12:03:16 pm

I live in South Florida. Do you think there would be enough air flow?

Reply
Kelsey
3/5/2021 11:58:30 am

Absolutely! The air flow from underneath the roosts and up through the circular vent at the apex of the roosting area is great.

Reply
Russ Bunyard
3/31/2021 07:51:39 pm

We live in Interior Alaska with temperatures from 60 below to 90 above 0F. We are very interested in the mega coop on our acre of property. Do you have any recommendations for accessories/improvements to a tractor coop for our neck of the woods? We are accustomed to heat lamps and heated water bases. I am about to pull the trigger on your mega coop plan and was wondering if you have any suggestions.

Reply
Kelsey
4/3/2021 09:16:03 am

Hi Russ! Honestly I don't think this design is a good fit for your climate. We recommend no more than 20 F at night unwinterized and with it winterized (with our suggestions listed at the ink below) we recommend no more than -10F.

https://www.greenwillowhomestead.com/mobile-chicken-tractor-build-plans.html#FAQs

Reply
Emily DAntuono
5/2/2021 12:01:26 pm

Is there a place in your plan for the chicken food that will keep it out of the rain?

Reply
Kelsey
9/25/2021 09:36:28 am

We have tips and tricks in the guide that address this very question!

Reply
Cindy Mooney
7/15/2021 09:18:58 am

Thank you for these wonderful plans! Can’t wait to build and try out your terrific design. Blessings on you for many more gifted inspirational ideas….👍♥️

Reply
Sharon
11/2/2021 11:31:16 pm

Hi I live in the sacred valley of Peru. I want to do the mega for my turkeys. How many could safely be housed? They free range in the day but are housed at night. Our land is rented so we cant build permanent structures

Reply
Amanda Wood
2/7/2022 05:38:51 am

We are in Australia and have small to medium venomous snakes, large pythons, wild dogs, quolls(ruthless acrobatic marsupial vampires) and monitor lizards. Our previous coop was 13k with concrete floors and steel large gauge mesh. We love your tractors and are contemplating building one but concerned about weight. Do you think we could make this coop with Australian hardwood but incorporate the steel mesh necessary to protect our girls from larger predators? We planned to use electric chicken mesh to give our girls more room to roam and have alpacas and dogs to surrounding to further protect the flock? We keep a couple roosters for alarms as well. Your designs are awesome- truly impressive and easy on the eye and solid. Great work!

Reply
Kelsey
2/7/2022 08:04:04 am

Hi Amanda,

Thanks so much for your question! While I can't speak to the difference in weight on Australian hardwood vs American hardwood, if they were too heavy to pull or push by hand I at least think that the tractors would still be towable if you rigged the front up to a tractor or vehicle to move them. When we move the tractors a great distance - like to clean them or swap out flocks- we will use our John Deere 445 to make the process go quicker. Your plan for electric nettings and flock protection sounds good to me. I'm also unfamiliar with the time of activity of Australian predators too ( nocturnal vs daytime) so keep that in mind when you think about how the hens need protection and and what time of day.

Reply
Courtney
4/1/2022 10:30:00 am

Would this design be suitable for raising meat birds? Based on the numbers you provide, you designed this with egg layers in mind.

Reply
Justin
6/20/2022 12:58:47 pm

Do you guys have problems with chickens pooping in the nesting boxes since the roosts are the same height as the nesting boxes?

Reply
Kelsey
6/20/2022 05:15:40 pm

We did before we added a diagonal roosting bar! With all three sizes we include the option to build a diagonal roosting bar inside the roosting area. :)

Reply
Trisha
9/30/2022 06:24:33 pm

Hello! I am very interested in your designs. Could we use plywood instead of steel? If so, would we have to tweek the measurements some?

Reply
Kelsey
10/7/2022 10:42:03 am

Yes! Although it might not hold up to rain and snow as well as tin. :)

Reply



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