Short answer: A chicken tractor is a light, movable pen with a roofed sleeping section, shifted onto fresh ground every day or two so the birds get grass and insects without wrecking one patch of land. A unit of this kind holds about 8 to 18 birds, and it fails when it is too heavy to move, too hot under iron sheeting, or left open at night.
Key takeaways
- Size the tractor by the roofed sleeping area, at about a quarter of a square metre per bird.
- Keep the frame light enough for two people to shift, on wheels or skids that clear the ruts.
- Move broilers every day and layers every two or three days, and always before the grass is gone.
- Fit a mesh skirt around the base so dogs, rats and snakes cannot get under at night.
- Shade the iron roof and leave the back open so the afternoon heat does not cook the birds.
- Hang the drinker and feeder on the frame, and carry them with the birds every time you move.
Count the birds before you buy the wood
Before you spend a cedi on timber, work out how many birds the tractor has to hold at night. Most of the tractors we see built on Ghanaian farms were designed for the number of birds the farmer wanted to keep, and the frame was then stretched to fit. The result is a unit too heavy to drag across the compound and too crowded to sleep in.
The working rule we give farmers is simple. Give each bird about a quarter of a square metre of roofed floor, which covers the sleeping area and the space she needs to stand up, turn round and get off the perch. Light layers can manage on slightly less, and heavier dual-purpose birds like the Kuroiler need a little more. The open run outside the roof is where the birds scratch and eat grass, and it does not count towards their night space.
Even the organic rules in Europe set a ceiling on indoor density, at around six hens per square metre of house. A tractor is not a house, but the same logic holds. Crowded birds peck, and a crowded tractor is a dirty one within days.
Sizes that hold a flock without being too heavy to move
The table below gives the three sizes we see most often. The birds-per-unit figures are working numbers for dual-purpose or light layer birds, and they assume the roof covers the sleeping section. Move the figures down a little for broilers that are close to market weight, because a large bird takes more room than a light hen on the same perch.
| Tractor size (outside) | Roofed sleeping area | Birds per unit at night | How often to move it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4 m by 1.2 m | Whole unit, about 2.9 m² | 8 to 10 | Daily, for broilers and young birds |
| 2.4 m by 3.0 m | Back 1.2 m, about 2.9 m² | 10 to 12 | Every one or two days |
| 2.4 m by 3.6 m | Back 1.8 m, about 4.3 m² | 16 to 18 | Every two or three days, with wheels and a helper |
Two people can shift the first two sizes across short grass. The 3.6 metre unit needs wheels that clear the ground, and in our experience it becomes a two-person job only when it is empty of birds. Anything longer than that is a mobile house, and our section on mobile coops below explains when that is the better choice.
How many tractors a flock needs, and what the chicks cost
A flock of 36 birds fits three of the middle-sized units at 12 birds each, with room to spare if one bird is lost or a hen goes broody. It is a sensible size for a family plot that wants eggs and a few meat birds for the festive season.
Do the chick arithmetic before the carpentry. At our current starting price of GH₵11 for a Kuroiler chick, 36 birds cost about GH₵396 at the hatchery price, before you count feed, vaccines and transport. A box of 50 Kuroiler chicks is GH₵550. If you buy a box and then only need 36, you have eighteen spare birds to sell, give away or keep as replacements, and it is worth planning that from the start. Our Kuroiler and Noiler chicks page sets out the box sizes and the day of hatch collection.
The per-bird maths is the reason we push farmers towards a tractor they will keep for years rather than one built to last a single season. Divide the cost of the frame, roof and wheels by the number of birds it holds across its working life, and a well-made 12-bird unit often works out cheaper per bird than a cheap one that rots in two rainy seasons.
Frame, wheels and the ruts after the first rain
The frame carries the weight, so use timber that can take it: hardwood offcuts or treated timber for the base rails, and lighter pieces for the uprights and the roof frame. Cross-brace every corner, because a tractor that is dragged across uneven ground twists, and a twisted frame will not close the door properly. Check the joints once a month.
Ground clearance is what most farmers forget. A tractor on skids drags its base rails through every rut, and the rails wear through quickly on laterite and gravel. Wheels make the moving easy, but they need to clear roots and lumps. Bicycle wheels or cart wheels on a proper axle are the common choice, and they should sit high enough that the base rail is at least 10 centimetres off the ground when the unit is level.
Once the rains start, the low corner of the plot turns to mud, and a tractor parked there sinks on one side and loses its level. Park on the highest dry ground you have, and move the unit off any patch that has standing water for more than a day.
Mesh, the predator skirt and what gets under the wall
Use welded mesh for the sides, not chicken wire alone. Hexagonal chicken wire tears when a dog leans on it, and a determined rat or mongoose will chew through the twist. Welded mesh with a 2.5 centimetre opening keeps the adults in and most predators out. Use a finer mesh, about 1.3 centimetres, for the young birds, because the chicks get through a bigger hole.
The weak point on every tractor is the base. A dog will dig under a wall in an evening, and a small snake will slide under a gap the width of a finger. Fit a skirt of mesh about 30 centimetres wide round the base, laid flat outwards on the ground and pinned down at the corners. When a dog scratches at the edge, the skirt bends and the earth fills in on top of it, and the animal gives up.
The night closure matters more than any mesh. Fix a door that latches from the outside, check the latch every evening, and count the birds in before you close it. A tractor left open at dusk is the most common way we hear of a whole unit being lost in a single night. Our predator guide covers the day and night routines, and the rodent and snake notes cover the small visitors that find the gaps first.
Heat under iron sheeting in the afternoon
An iron roof is the hottest part of the unit from about noon until four in the afternoon, and the sleeping area sits directly under it. A dark or unshaded roof that is closed on all sides turns a 12-bird tractor into an oven. We have seen birds that were fine in the morning stand with their wings out and their beaks open by three o'clock, and the cause was the roof and the closed back, not the sun on the grass.
Leave the back of the tractor open, or fit a mesh panel that you can see through, so the air moves front to back. Put the roof sheets on with a small gap at the ridge or fit a second, lighter cover on top of the iron, such as thatch or a sheet of shade cloth, so the heat stays above the birds. Keep the sleeping section off the side that faces the afternoon sun.
Water is the other half of the heat problem, and it is the one farmers forget. A drinker in the open run can go empty in an hour on a hot day. Our hot weather notes set out the cooling steps for a fixed house, and most of them apply to a tractor as well.
Working the tractor through the harmattan and the rains
Harmattan turns the same tractor into a different job. The days are hot and dusty, the nights are cold, and the dust gets into everything. Keep the open run clean and the feed covered, and at night drop a tarpaulin over the sides that you can roll up in the morning. The birds still need the vents above their heads, so do not seal the top.
The rainy season brings the mud. Move the tractor onto a fresh patch of drained ground before the flock pushes the old patch into a bog. Lay a few bricks or a slab of hard ground under the wheels if the unit sits for more than a day in one place, and check the axle for rust after every wet spell. A tractor that rolls out of the rain on a wet axle will stick on the first slope.
Feed and water that move with the birds
Hang the drinker and the feeder from the frame, so they travel with the birds and do not get left behind on the old patch. A hanging nipple line keeps the water cleaner than an open pan, and a small hanging feeder with a lip stops the birds throwing feed out onto the grass. Our feeders and drinkers guide compares the options and the numbers you need.
Feed the birds in the morning, before they go out to graze, and top up in the late afternoon if you are running a layer flock. The birds on grass eat less pellet than birds in a house, and they will fill up on whatever they find in the grass. That is good for the flock, but it means you cannot judge their intake by the feeder alone. Count the feed you put out each week against the number of birds, so you know whether they are getting enough.
The feed in the tractor has to stay dry, and the sacks should never sit on wet ground. Store a few days' supply in a sealed bin in the house, and carry only what you will use in the morning when you go out to move the unit.
Need chicks for your next batch?
Send breed, number and town. We reply with price, hatch date and delivery cost in writing.
Nest boxes on a layer tractor
Layers on a tractor need a nest box inside the roofed section, about one box for every four or five hens, and the box needs to be dark and off the perch line. A hen that lays on the grass in the open run will lose her eggs to crows, to rats and to the other birds that peck at the shells. Shut the birds in the house for the first hour of the morning if you are collecting eggs on the move, so the hens lay in the boxes and not on the ground.
The nest box is the part that gets wrecked first when a tractor is pulled over rough ground. Screw it to the frame, not to the roof, and check it each time you move the unit. The nest box guide gives the sizes and the spacing, and the layer chicks page covers the breeds that will settle into this kind of system.
When a mobile coop is the better choice
A mobile coop is a larger house on skids or a heavy frame, moved every few weeks rather than every day. It holds 40 to 100 birds, depending on the design, and it needs a tractor or a team of four to move it. Once the flock is past about 30 birds, most farmers find that the daily shifting of a small unit is more work than the flock is worth.
The mobile coop has its own problems. It needs a proper floor, with the litter raised clear of the ground, and it needs ventilation along the top of both long sides. The grass under it dies off in a few weeks, so you move it again before the ground is bare. If the flock is much bigger than that, a fixed house with a run is the better long-term choice, and our housing designs guide sets out the layouts that work in the Ghanaian climate.
A moving schedule by age, from chicks to market
Young birds need the most attention. A brooder in the house is the safe place for the first weeks, and the tractor is for the flock once it can handle the outdoors. Our broiler day-old chicks page covers the start. From there, the moves follow the birds' weight and their appetite for grass.
| Birds | Age | How often to move the tractor | What to check on each move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young birds on the tractor | Weeks 4 to 6 | Daily, to keep the young birds on clean ground | Drinker height, cold nights, the skirt |
| Growing birds | Weeks 7 to 12 | Every one to two days | Grass cover, droppings build-up, the roof vents |
| Laying hens | From first egg | Every two or three days | Nest boxes, perch positions, egg collection |
| Broilers close to market weight | Final two weeks | Daily, with the unit kept shaded | Heat, water, and how the birds walk on the wheels |
These are the working numbers we give. Your own grass, your flock's temperament and the weather will change them, and the best rule is to move the unit before the birds have grazed the ground bare or the droppings begin to build up in one place.
What to run through every time the unit moves
- Count the birds in the unit, and count again at dusk before you latch the door.
- Check the latch, the skirt, the mesh and the roof sheets for gaps or loose screws.
- Pick up the drinker and feeder, and hang them back on the frame in the new spot.
- Level the unit on the new patch, and check the wheels or skids are clear of roots.
- Look for standing water, and move the unit if the ground is wet at the corner.
- Scrape the droppings from the old patch, or let the birds spread them if the ground is clear.
- Fill the drinker before you let the birds out, and shade the open run from the afternoon sun.
- Write the date and the move in your records, so you know when the ground last rested.
Where tractor plans go wrong before the first move
- A unit built for 20 birds and stocked with 30, so it is too heavy to move and too crowded to sleep in.
- Chicken wire used for the sides, which a dog or rat tears through in one night.
- A closed back and an iron roof with no shade, which cooks the birds from noon to four.
- The tractor left in one place for weeks, so the grass dies and the birds stand in their own droppings.
- Skids that drag through the rains and rot the base rails within two seasons.
- A drinker set on the ground in the open run, where it fills with dirt and empties in the sun.
Most of these come from building before counting. If you are unsure how many birds your plot can carry, our free-range setup guide shows the land side of the sum, and the current chick prices are on their own page. If you want to test the tractor numbers against a real order, message us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503 with the number of tractors you plan to run, and the order form is there once you have settled the count.
Questions farmers ask
How many birds can go in one chicken tractor?
A 2.4 by 1.2 metre tractor with the whole unit roofed holds 8 to 10 birds at night. A 2.4 by 3.0 metre unit with the back 1.2 metres roofed holds 10 to 12, and a 2.4 by 3.6 metre unit with half roofed holds 16 to 18. These figures assume a quarter of a square metre of roofed floor per bird, and they should come down for heavier birds close to market weight.
How often should a chicken tractor be moved?
Broilers and young birds need a move every day, so they always have clean ground and fresh grass. Growing birds can stay two days on one patch, and laying hens every two or three days. Move the unit before the grass is grazed bare or the droppings build up in one spot, whichever comes first.
What is the best material for the sides of a chicken tractor in Ghana?
Welded mesh with a 2.5 centimetre opening for adult birds and about 1.3 centimetres for chicks. Chicken wire on its own tears under a dog's weight and gives rats an easy way in. Use timber or treated poles for the frame, and cross-brace every corner so the unit does not twist when it is dragged.
Can I keep layers in a chicken tractor?
Yes, for a small flock of around 10 to 18 hens. The unit needs a nest box inside the roofed section, about one box for every four or five hens, and the box should be screwed to the frame so it survives the rough ground. Expect to collect eggs on each move, and check the nest boxes for damage every time.
How do I stop snakes and rats getting under the tractor?
Fit a skirt of mesh about 30 centimetres wide round the base, laid flat on the ground and pinned at the corners. The mesh should be fine enough to stop rats and small snakes, and it should lie in contact with the ground so no gap opens under the edge. Check the skirt after each move, and clear any grass that has grown up against the sides.
Is an iron roof too hot for a chicken tractor?
An unshaded iron roof gets very hot from about noon to four in the afternoon, and birds under it suffer. Open the back of the unit, leave a gap at the ridge, and add a lighter shade cover on top of the iron. Keep the water topped up through the afternoon, because a drinker in the open run can empty in an hour on a hot day.
When should I switch from a tractor to a mobile coop?
Once the flock passes about 30 birds, a mobile coop on skids is usually easier to run than several small tractors. A mobile coop holds 40 to 100 birds and moves every few weeks, but it needs a team or a vehicle to shift it. For larger flocks, a fixed house with a run is the better long-term choice.
