Chicken tractors with no perch?

[loopycoops]

Hello everyone!
When thinking about designing a second chicken coop, I've become interested in a Joel Salatin style PVC chicken tractor.
Although the design of these seem quite easy, I'm confused- why do none of the rectangular box style tractors have perches for the chickens to roost?
I'm assuming the chickens will huddle down together on the ground if there isn't a perch, but, this doesn't seem like something they would do in nature.
Am I right here?
If so, has anyone designed a Salatin style tractor and included a perch?
Thanks for your help
-Richard

 

[DobieLover]

Hello everyone!
When thinking about designing a second chicken coop, I've become interested in a Joel Salatin style PVC chicken tractor.
Although the design of these seem quite easy, I'm confused- why do none of the rectangular box style tractors have perches for the chickens to roost?
I'm assuming the chickens will huddle down together on the ground if there isn't a perch, but, this doesn't seem like something they would do in nature.
Am I right here?
If so, has anyone designed a Salatin style tractor and included a perch?
Thanks for your help
-Richard

Those tractors are meat bird tractors and meat birds don't roost.

 

[Isadora]

Those tractors are meat bird tractors and meat birds don't roost.

X2
Meat birds lay on the ground. No need for roosts.

 

[sybonbon]

My husband build us 2 chicken tractors. There are two roosts. One in the coop for sleeping and one in the run area . See if you can add one to each area. Especially the coop. If you can't then add an item they can perch on like a cinder block or upside down bucket. They like to get up off the ground. *** I just looked at your photo. That is nothing like my tractors. Mine are coop and run on wheels. The photo is a temporary unit for brooding or meatbirds.

 

[loopycoops]

Those tractors are meat bird tractors and meat birds don't roost.

Thanks for that- so would this style of tractor not be suitable for egg layers? I'm raising Australorps.
Thanks!

 

[DobieLover]

Thanks for that- so would this style of tractor not be suitable for egg layers? I'm raising Australorps.
Thanks!

They would not be happy in that. They also need a lot more space.
How many birds are you planning on?
General guidelines are 4 sq ft of space per bird in the coop (not including space taken by nest boxes), 1 nest box per 4-5 birds, 12" of roost space, shoot for 1 sq ft of permanent ventilation per bird housed and the run should have 15 sq ft of space per bird.
IMO, the run should be large enough for a bird to fly up to a roost and really stretched and flap her wings, have a solid roof for protection from the weather, a good organic run litter for slow composting of the poop load and something for them to dig holes in for dust baths and lots of things to perch on scattered about the run.
All parts of the coop and run should be accessible to the caretaker.

 

[NatJ]

so would this style of tractor not be suitable for egg layers? I'm raising Australorps.

It would need some changes (like adding roosts and nestboxes), and more height would be good too.

Those pens are being used to raise meat birds, who are really just big babies. They are butchered at an age (8 weeks or so) when layer chicks are sometimes still in the brooder, or just recently moved out to a coop! Because they are so young and so heavy, they will not roost, and they cannot be trusted to go in and out of a sleeping space. So a single big pen, and sleeping on the ground, works well for them.

For layers, you could use a similar pen, with roosts & nestboxes added, and allowing at least 4 square feet of space per hen. If you make it 3 feet tall, you can put the roosts 18" from the ground, and that's high enough for the hens to walk & forage underneath them.

The name "Chicken Tractor" comes from a book by Andy Lee, first published some decades ago. His "tractors" were taller than Salatin's but smaller in length and width, and were designed to work with either layers or meat birds.

Joel Salatin houses his laying hens differently than his meat chickens. I've read of a coop called the "egg mobile" that's used for roosting & egg laying, and the hens being allowed out to range during the daytime (with electric poultry net to keep them from going too far, and to provide some protection from predators.)