Video summary
The video introduces the concept of a "chicken tractor," which the host refers to as a mobile chicken run designed to allow flocks access to different areas of a yard throughout the day. This portable structure measures four feet wide by nine feet long and is constructed from treated lumber, heavy-duty PVC pipes, and wire mesh to ensure durability while remaining lightweight enough to move easily. The design prioritizes security by keeping the unit low to the ground so that predators cannot dig underneath it, and it features a gate for easy access. To protect the wooden frame from UV degradation, the host applies primer and paint, while also incorporating wheels scavenged from an old cart to facilitate mobility across flat or slightly rough terrain.
Inside the tractor, the chickens have access to essential amenities including a specialized waterer with nipple spouts that prevents spillage and keeps the wood dry, as well as designated areas for feeding, dust bathing in sand, and egg collection. The host emphasizes the importance of providing shade using tarps when necessary, allowing the birds to choose between sun and shade as they prefer. By moving the tractor regularly, typically every few hours, the chickens can graze on fresh grass and insects without destroying a single spot in the yard, which constitutes a significant portion of their natural diet. The host notes that once one chicken learns how to drink from the nipple waterer, the others quickly imitate the behavior, highlighting the social nature of the flock.
The video also addresses the integration of new birds into an existing flock by separating younger chicks in a smaller section until they are large enough and accepted by the older chickens. The host explains that this separation prevents bullying and allows the smaller birds to grow safely before being introduced to the main group. A German Shepherd named Rio assists in managing the flock, particularly when loose chickens need to be rounded up or guided back into the coop at night. While the dog is enthusiastic about his duty, he is not allowed inside the tractor during the day, and the host ensures that the structure remains secure only during daylight hours when supervision is possible.
In conclusion, the chicken tractor serves as an effective tool for sustainable backyard farming by maximizing pasture usage and reducing waste while providing a safe environment for both meat and egg production breeds like Barred Rocks. The host demonstrates how to maintain the structure by draining excess water and moving it to fresh ground, ensuring the chickens remain healthy and active. Although the setup requires some effort to move and manage, the ability to give free-range access to the entire yard without damaging specific areas makes it a valuable investment for poultry keepers who want their birds to thrive naturally.
Read the full video transcript
greetings friends this is survival doc
today we're going to take a look at my
chicken tractor I've heard it called by
several names uh it is uh basically a
mobile chicken run which allows you to
uh give your chickens access to your
full yard so that they can pick up bugs
and grass and ticks and uh so let's take
a look at
it then my chicken tractor which is what
I like to call it is
4T wide by 9 ft
long you pick it up by this handle here
and you can the
chickens to a different part of the yard
or move it over a little
bit and you have to supply the chickens
with water when they're going to be out
here all day and the best way I found to
do that is with
this type of waterer which has little
nipple down there this is just an all
game bottle that uh I added the little
chicken watering nipple down
there some wheels back here that I took
off of uh an old
cart you want to keep it low enough to
the ground to where chickens can't get
under it and predators can't get under
it
here I have a
don't want you have a a gate to get to
put them in and
out this part right here used this stiff
1 in by 2 in wire that um I had left
over from making
my chicken not chicken rabbit hutches
the top I put um chicken wire 4T
across wanted to keep it lightweight all
treated
lumber these pieces here are just the
um Lumber that you use
for your fence fencing the wood
fences um this part here is these are
just treated 2x4s that I just cut in
half on my table saw just sliced them
right down the
middle same thing here same thing here
that uh is a um
8T tree to 2x4 that I
cut in
half it with so one board would make two
piece of PVC pipe here um 1 in inside
diameter the heavier Duty stuff and I
put a
screw through
it to hold it in
place painted it right now I just have
primer on it painted it protect it from
um UV light because being in the
sun will it will deteriorate in time if
it's not
painted I have 13 chickens in here right
now these are spring chicks they're a
couple of months
old so they're not fully grown
chickens use J
clips to put this together
use my nail
gun to staple these
in and they really enjoy it they enjoy
getting outside the cpop out here 80% of
a chicken's diet can be grass so if you
move them around they're not too
destructive to one spot in your yard
and they can find like that when there's
found a bug or something rest of them
are going after
it takes them a little while to figure
out how to drink from this thing but
pretty soon one of them will figure it
out and when one of them figures out the
other ones chickens are big
imitators once one I'm figures it out
the other one's the
same drinking from
it most of these are barred rocks I got
barred rocks because they're very cold
hardy I don't want to have to heat the C
in the winter time they're cold hearty
and they're also a good breed for
both meat chickens and egg chickens and
I got chickens for both reasons for meat
and for eggs there a red right there
maybe Rhode Island red I
think that little nipple there's made
especially
for watering chickens I bought it at the
hardware store where
they sell
chickens so in the morning
I just back this thing up to the door of
the chicken cop or to the gate and open
this thing
up and uh H them in there and they
quickly
learn what this is all about they love
getting out in the yard and spending all
day outside now you always have to
provide them with some shade so if you
have them out where there's nothing but
Sun you have to throw a little piece of
a tarp or something over part of the top
of it in order to provide them some
shade they should be able
to get in the sun if they want in the
Sun or get in the shade if they want to
get out of the
sun around and throughout the day these
chickens will be out here all day
long and what I'll do is per throughout
the day every now and then when I think
about it I'll come out
here and move this
over just lift this part up and just
move move
it it's 9 ft long so generally I'll move
it like 9 ft at a
time I left about 4 in here the reason I
did that is because they like to reach
through and uh I feed these chickens by
hand and so that's the reason they're
always interested in my hand cuz they
think I'm got I've got food for them and
um but anyway this allows them to reach
outside uh and at the same time adds
structural stability I have this
stapled on the other side add structural
stability so that they can't our our
predator or dog or something can't get
under there of course I wouldn't leave
this out here at night because um
Predator could dig underneath there but
during the daytime when you kind of keep
an eye on them of course I've um leave
them out here during the daytime when I
leave because it's um pretty
secure not worried about anything
getting them in the
daytime so there it
is see they come up here because they
think I'm going to pull it this way I'm
going to pull it that way and watch how
if I just move
slowly they figure out which way it's
going
all right the uh chicken tractor works
best on flat ground and here's an
example of how it can work on rough
ground you just have to make sure this
point your chickens don't get out red up
here trying to get
out okay come on down
here and I just open the door
they're ready to go in CU they're ready
for the regular chicken food just open
this
door the chicken
tractor have to make sure these guys
don't come out okay um Rio has come to
help me and when RAB and when the
rabbits when the chickens get loose Rio
does help me round them
up okay I'm going to uh
he's a shepherd
dog sometimes he gets a little
enthusiastic I can move real move move
okay close this and we just open this up
and they're ready to go in there and
everyone El is inting there okay let me
pull this back out of the
way leave it open
now Rio watch it okay go
ahead and Rio's going to watch here make
sure nobody gets
out we turn on the better light in
here here are my bigger
chickens eating their food here are the
smaller
ones over here is the water I built this
water tray chiens have a tendency to
make a mess I built this water tray so
that when they spill excess water I can
drain it out over there and I keep my uh
wood here dry very important to keep
your wood dry very important to keep it
dry okay these are my smaller chickens
that we added
to
our other
flock and there's
Rio being a good dog he's a good he's a
German shepherd and as the name implies
they were shepherds and uh you just have
to make sure he understands what you
want all right so when we introduce the
smaller chickens in
here I kept them separate in this uh
cage here and what I have here is an
opening that allowed the smaller
chickens what are they getting freaked
out about they're just freaking
themselves out
um hand and oh yeah they're
still they're still picking on them some
and that's the reason they have this
Escape here when they get tired of
getting picked on they'll go through
here and they have their
own area in here and this is too small
for their larger chickens to fit through
so the smaller
chicks eting out of
yeah yeah and
um so we keep these smaller ones uh
separated until a few weeks then the
other chickens will accept them after
they they see
them around after a couple of weeks they
finally let them in here's their sand
box where they do their dusting
here's a roost I built for them back
here these are their pans for egg
laying egg laying pans over
here with their ramp they can walk up
and
down and over here to the
ramp so they can walk up here
to
their
boxes and here we had the heat lamp
infrared lamp on the babies when back
when it was cold we haven't been using
that in a while I'll uh put that hang
that back up higher get it out of the
way and we'll take this temporary pin
here out once the babies are fully
accepted by the larger chickens
there's a three we difference there's a
three we difference in their ages all of
these are spring chicks from this
year and um just 3 weeks difference so
how old are the small ones now you think
um they're about N9 and six
weeks the small ones six weeks the small
ones about six weeks now the large ones
are about n weeks now
and Rio knows he's not allowed to go
inside the chicken coop and actually
he's kind of pushing it there putting
his paws across the line but
uh but he's um he's never heard of
chicken and he does Shepherd them when a
chicken gets loose Rio
will bring the chicken back to us so
drive it Rio will drive the chicken back
to us if he can and if he can't drive
the chicken back to us he twice he has
held the chicken down without hurting it
and I have been able to get the chicken
that he was holding
down so he's a good he's a good
shepherd he's a black German
Shepherd you dog on that well he'll just
have to get used to it
these are the um six week
old bar rock
chicks these are
the non we old bar Rock the darker ones
are the pullets the lighter ones are
the roosters to be the rolls and
there's a red over
there the smaller bar rocks
and I think Rio's getting bored with the
situation he's crossing the line he's
actually not allowed to be beyond that
line but sometimes he uh
pushes the
envelope and sometimes we feed these
chickens by
hand and um so when I get down like this
they come up to see if I have any
food here's my dusting
chickens they dust themselves I just
have um playground sand in there that
they dust themselves to um
clean themselves get mites off of
them they're hungry aren't
they they um didn't find a whole lot of
uh food when they were tracking around
the
yard all day and so when I bring them in
here they're um kind of catching
up this is survival dock reminding you
be prepared or be prepared to be fleeced
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