Chicken Tractor Permaculture

Chicken tractor permaculture is an efficient and productive way of caring for chickens without harming the environment.  Have you ever seen what even a small flock of hens can do to an area if they are left there long enough?  Leave hens in one place for even a couple of weeks, and all the grass will disappear, leaving you with bare ground and a lot of mess.

Chickens were never meant exist on a diet based solely on chicken feed.  Instead they crave insects and fresh grass as well.  Keep them cooped in a traditional coop and yard, and they will not only be lacking in fresh greens and protein, but they are also more likely to contract parasites.

But let your hens run loose, and your flock is left exposed to predators.  Plus, you'll have a much harder time collecting the eggs, if the dogs don't eat them first.  Given half a chance, our black lab is a notorious egg thief.

That's where chicken tractor permaculture comes in.  A moveable chicken tractor gives your hens access to the fresh grass and insects they crave, while providing them with the protection they need.  But there's an added benefit to a chicken tractor. 

Chicken Tractor Permaculture
Means No Smell

The problem with a stationary hen house is it gets smelly pretty quickly.  Loaded with manure, the area where your hens lives quickly becomes a toxic site that could make your birds sick if you don't clean it often enough.  And as I mentioned earlier, the grass disappears within a couple of weeks.

That means a bigger feed cost and more work removing manure.  Using a moveable chicken tractor eliminates much of the mess and smell.

Better For Your Lawn

Plus, a moveable chicken tractor won't just keep your birds from destroying your lawn.  Rather, the chicken tractor works with your lawn and will actually feed and strengthen your grass.  As the hens scratch for bugs and grass, your lawn gets aerated and fertilized naturally.  Your organic "lawn service" will do wonders for your grass.

For example: this is what our grass looked like immediately after we removed the portable coop. This was after one full day of the chicken treatment. It might not look very pretty in this picture, but check out how it looks a week or so later:

Look carefully, and you can actually see the line where the chicken tractor was.  Keep one of these moveable chicken tractors in your backyard, move it daily, and you'll have a lush, dark green lawn by the end of the summer thanks to chicken tractor permaculture.

Better still, your pasture-fed hens will produce eggs with lower cholesterol and more of the healthy vitamins your body needs.

Ready to Get Started?

Building a moveable chicken tractor isn't as hard or complicated as you think.  If you want to learn how to build a chicken tractor, you can get the plans here.

Learn More About Raising Chickens

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