Chicken Tractor Update (wheel and handle assembly)

 Spent the afternoon adding on the wheels and lift handles to the chicken tractor. Like all the other parts of this project it was engineering on the fly, not really knowing whether it would work out until it was built. There were several contraptions on the web with rather elaborate mechanisms for raising and lowering the wheels. I decided to go with a simpler approach that turns the whole thing into a giant wheelbarrow. Is this project overbuilt? Yes! But I wanted something a little bigger that would give our girls more space to get out and graze. That is the whole reason for this project in the first place; healthier-happier hens theoretically should lay healthier eggs or so the story goes. And to get back to the concept of backyard eggs; something that was common place a generation ago.

I scratched my head for most of the winter trying to decide how best to attach the wheels. The coop portion is fairly heavy. I settled on a 4X4 wood axle with the wheels being attached with 10-inch lag bolts. Now all that is left to do is to finish the run enclosure. This also will require some careful planning as I will need to be able to access the water and feed bins so that they can be removed easily. I am thinking of some kind of top hatch. It also will need an end hatch so that the hens can be let out in the garden when conditions allow.