How to Build a Chicken Tractor from PVC

With the rise in popularity of raising chickens, it can be expensive to get started if you don’t already have a coop, hens rest or run.  To help, we’ve released a new PVC plan for an easy and inexpensive solution in the form of a chicken tractor.

What is a chicken tractor?

A chicken tractor is a portable chicken coop that gives your birds constant access to fresh food.  It allows them to fertilize the soil and helps control yard or garden pests. Chicken tractors are moved across the garden or yard to change the position of the chickens and their access to resources.

How would I use a chicken tractor?

The principle is you can drag the chicken tractor across your backyard every day, or every few days, so your flock has fresh vegetation to forage in. Chickens love to eat the ends of grass and weeds. They also like bugs, slugs, and snails – which will help reduce the pest population on your property. As you move the tractor around, they leave their nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich droppings behind them. 

It’s called a chicken “tractor” because the scratching and pecking action of the birds clears the ground and loosens the top inch or so of earth. It’s one way to get rid of a lawn or a weed patch in preparation for planting a garden.

It’s best to move the tractor on a daily basis if you want the birds to fertilize and perform pest control.  This will keep your lawn or pasture from turning into a patch of dirt.

Build our PVC Chicken Tractor

A chicken tractor is a great solution for beginning chicken raising while constructing your coop. It also provides an open space for your birds, to keep them happy and productive without restricting them to the coop cage or dirt yard.

You can easily and inexpensively build a chicken tractor from PVC. 

This particular plan has a hinged door, which allows you access to the chickens as needed.  You can use readily available bird netting from your home center in place of chicken wire, which can be difficult to work with.  

Our plan is available in the FORMUFIT PVC Plan Library, or can be accessed here, which has a full list of parts needed.