Dictionary definition of “chicken tractor”

chicken tractor

n. a bottomless, mobile chicken coop that rests directly on the ground. British chicken ark, Australian chook tractor. Subjects: English, Agriculture, Animals, Insects, & Birds

Editorial Note: You can see many pictures of “chicken tractors” at The City Chicken.

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Citations: 1995 Andy Lee Country Journal (May 1) “Gardening with a chicken tractor: a few hens in a portable coop can mow, till, weed, fertilize and more.” vol. 22, no. 3, p. 43: (title) 1995 Laura White @ Albuquerque, New Mexico Usenet: misc.rural (May 25) “Re: Misc rural questions”: A Chicken tractor is a chicken coop built on wheels and without a floor. This allow you to move the chickens around your orchard or yard on a regular basis. They eat the bugs, scratch and fertilize the soil and after a few days you move them to the next spot. No cleaning the bottom of the cage etc. 2003 [d_donahoo] @ Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Permaculture discussion forum (July 28) “School kids and permaculture”: The “chook tractor” is a time old permaculture concept as far as i can tell. it can be as complex or simple as you like. but the basic principle is enclose the chooks where you want to plant a garden, feed them and leave them there for 1-3 months and they do all the scratching and turning over of the soil for you—fertilise it with their poo and eat all the weeds (including couch grass)—for basically nothing (and you get eggs!). 2006 Paul Waddington Guardian (United Kingdom) (Feb. 25) “How to be a 21st-century smallholder”: Getting set up with chickens can be very cheap: the birds themselves cost from 25p to £20 each and the housing can be home-made, although a wooden chicken “ark” will cost around £200. *2007 Katy Skinner The City Chicken (Yacolt, Washington) (May 22) “Chicken Tractor Gallery”: A chicken tractor is basically a bottomless cage or pen of some kind. This is so the chickens can scratch (a chicken’s raison de etre) and eat off of the ground such things as grass, weeds, bugs, etc. In the U.K., chicken tractors are called chicken arks. You can drag your chicken tractor around the yard if you want. They often feature wheels. Without a cage bottom, the chicken manure goes directly onto the ground and becomes fertilizer.

Posted 21 Jun 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend