Our Chicken Tractor

The Boy built a big chicken run for our 24 Buff Orpingtons, but they kept getting out, and I didn't want them free-ranging in my neighbor's garden or my mom's vegetable and flower gardens. I was also afraid that one of our cats, roaming neighborhood dogs, hawks, etc. might get them. So, we built a chicken tractor to keep them in. I believe it's a bit too small, so we may have to build another one until we can get a larger, completely covered run put in. I entice them to it with food each morning, and we entice them back to their enclosed house at night with food because we have lots of wild critters around here, including coyotes, and all the chicken-keepin' folks I've talked to around here said that they've lost chickens that they leave out in runs at night because the wild critters will dig right under the runs and get them anyway, even with 2x6s on the bottom. Here are some pictures:

Above is the back of the tractor with a tarp covering the top and the west side to shade them from afternoon/evening sun, and that's usually the direction the rains come from.

Above is a picture of the east side (front) of the tractor. They get some morning sun. The Boy put two roosts up in the middle of the tractor, and they love to sit up there and snooze when they're not digging or eating.

Above is the door end of the tractor. It drops down to the ground with a walk-way, which you can see from the inside in the picture below, just to the right of the chicken sitting on the waterer. The chickens usually bypass the door and just jump in from the ground, though. LOL

I think we'll probably let them free-range a little more in the evenings when we're outside and can keep a better eye on them.