A chicken tractor is a bottomless, portable pen that fits over your garden beds allowing the chickens peck and scratch the soil, eat pest bugs and weed seeds, and fertilise the beds with their manure.

Chickens are very efficient at digging up plants and catching bugs but if you let them loose in the garden they will  happily eat everything, weeds and vegetables alike. If you make the hutch the width of the space between rows, you can start at one end of the row and move along to the end as the chickens do their job. 

Sarah Armstrong from Runciman has made her chicken tractor the size of her raised vegetable beds – and does no weeding.  The chicken tractor follows the vege rotation: as a bed finishes, on goes the chicken tractor.  The resident chicken weeds, fertilises, aerates AND provides breakfast all in one. 

Construct your chicken tractor from 2” x 2” lumber and chicken wire. It should not be more than three or four feet long and about three feet high. Do not put mesh on the bottom of the tractor, the chickens need to be able to get to the soil.

You can make your tractor fancy by including a door in the side to get the chickens in and out easier but this is not really necessary. Do take the time to make it sturdy, however, so that the chickens are securely confined.

An old piece of canvas or burlap can be tacked over the top to give the chickens shade. Always provide a pan of water for the chickens. This can be loose or attached to the tractor.

“DRIVING” THE TRACTOR

Put the tractor in the garden where you want the soil to be cultivated and weeds removed. Add the chicken workers, at least three large ones or several banties. The more chickens you put in the tractor, the faster the job will be done. Don’t over-crowd. A little experience and experimentation should soon reveal the optimum chicken-power for the size of your tractor.

The first time you use the tractor, you will have to watch it closely to determine how often it will need to be moved. Once you get a feel for how long it takes your chickens to clear an area, you will be able to go away and leave them alone to do their labour. Just don’t forget about them.

Chickens who have removed all edible weeds and bugs from their available space will soon start squabbling amongst themselves. They will also excavate large depressions for dust bathing. You will want to discourage this sort of behaviour and encourage good work ethics in your chickens.

THE ADVANTAGES OF CHICKEN-POWER

Chickens are very efficient at cultivating soil with their sharp-clawed feet, this action comes naturally to them. While they are digging up everything green they will also be catching bugs and leaving deposits of nitrogen-rich manure. The digging and scratching will incorporate this manure in the soil, so that it will not be laying around on the surface.

Your chickens will benefit from all the greens and fresh bugs they harvest while working in the tractor. This will keep them contented and you should get more and better eggs. You should  save money on chicken feed, which is not as  cheap – so to speak – as it should be! The more free food your chickens eat, the less expensive they are to keep.  Letting chickens work the garden does not involve the use of pesticides or herbicides and is a wonderful organic solution to these problems.

A FEW REMINDERS

Always provide shade for chicken workers and lots of fresh water. Cultivating can be hot and thirsty work on a summer day, even for chickens. Remember to check on the progress of the work during the day and move the tractor to a fresh place in the garden.