raising bantam chickens

One of the most important elements to a successful organic garden is the means by which you enrich the soil. Permaculture design systems calls for livestock to provide organic manure to keep the soil rich with nutrients. In Urban Sustainable living, I’ve scaled back what large farms do and raise bantam chickens. In USL, I manage natural processes. One of those is raising Bantam chickens. They don’t just have one purpose; the chickens do many wonderful things. They do a lot in my garden, so I don’t have to. My chickens till the soil when they cover their manure and look for worms and bugs to eat, they also lay eggs high in omega 3s(I feed them flax seeds), they clear and glean my garden once it has been harvested saving me from pulling it all up and composting it.

Raising chickens should be done to scale, be urban appropriate, fit it into urban lifestyles, reduce your family’s dependency on oil and can be a rewarding experience for you and your family. My bantam chickens all have names and have become pets. They are trained and love their home. Never own a rooster in the city, it just asks for trouble and it’s not worth it. Roosters are for the frying pan. I house my bantees in a 4 by 8 cage (32sqft) that fits in all my raised beds. They are moved once per month. I have 12 raised beds in my main garden, so that means they are in one bed per month. I have 8 birds in one cage which means they have 4 sq ft per bird. With each one laying 1 small egg per day that’s over 2 dozen eggs per week. 24 mini eggs per week for a family of 6 will leave plenty left over to share.

The minimum number of 4x8 Raised beds you need to raise 8 bantam chicks is 4. You will leave the cage on one raised bed for one month and move it to the next. After one year each bed will have been available to planting for 3 months out of the year and fallow for nine months each year. To keep any smell down, I layer a small amount of hay on the floor of their cage, which composts down nicely as well. For small chickens they require at least 2 sq ft of living space and bantams 1.5 sq ft of space. After years of experimentation, I have determined that the perfect number of bantam chickens to raise, per family is 8.

Feeding chickens is a breeze. My chickens need a small amount of grain 6 days out of the week and fresh water everyday. I also feed them any weeds or kitchen scraps that I have on any given day, which they love. The more grazing and food scraps you can give your birds the less feed they need. A small chicken eats an average of 2lbs of feed per week and Bantams require a little less than that. That means my Bantams eat just under 16lbs of food per week. Their feed comes in 50 lb bags so each bag lasts me about 1 month. Feed costs vary from brand to brand and type. Depending on the time of year I use various types of feed for egg layers and supplement their food with crushed oyster shells as grit and to promote egg shell strength, 2lbs per 50lb bag.

Feeding and caring for Pygora Goats is also low impact. They need fresh water and 2lbs timothy hay as well as grain. I also supplement their diet with tree branches and mine love dandelions. . I don’t have the space for baby goats, but if they were bred, a quart of milk could be provided from each goat per day. Goats that provide milk do require more feed per day.

All of the animals on my farm contribute to Urban Sustainable Living in multiple ways. My Goats are no different. There are many different breeds of goats. The goat that I feel best suits USL is the Pygora Goat. It is an American breed of goat developed in the early 80’s. It is a cross between an Angora goat and a Pygmy goat.

These goats are Urban Appropriate because they are small, around the size of a dog at around 40 lbs and also provide up to more that 6 lbs of luxurious cashmere type fiber per year. The Pygora fiber is 7 times warmer than regular wool and a dream to spin. Goats can live up to their 20s. Housing Pygoras can be done in an urban environment. They need at least 11 sq ft per goat of indoor shelter or stable and a minimum of 45sqft per goat. I have also experimented with using goats to clear un-kept urban lots with great success. With proper implementation Goats can be a valuable part of urban sustainable landscaping practices.

Materials-You will probably have left over wood, but only if you don't mess up. After a dozen of these I still mess up sometimes.
10-8'--2x3 building grade NON pressure treated lumber
1-bundle of --8'Strapping
2 hinges per door
1 latch hook per door
1 Reflective tarp used silver side up
4' wide x 25'long -1/2" Hardware cloth, 19mil galvanized metal mesh wire
2' wide x 25'long-1/2" Hardware cloth, 19mil galvanized metal mesh wire
3" screws
2" screws
1" screws
Screw gun
50+ 1" washers


Measure the inside of your raised bed that you are going to put the chicken tractor in. You want your chicken tractor to fit snugly in the bed. Not on top. In the video you will see that I have pieces of 2x4 wood attached 1inch below the top of the raised bed. The cage will rest on top of the wood. All of my raised beds are standard sizes, so the cage is inter changeable. Most beds are not square, so your measurements may not be equal so you want to use the smaller measurements going forward.

You are basically making a Frame and then covering the top and sides with galvanized wire. Next you need to cut all of the pieces for the frame. The version I make in the video is an ultra light weight version. The more wood you use or the thicker the wood you use the heavier it will be. There are many ways to build a tractor, but this one is so light weight most adults and even strong teens may be able to move it.

The width of my Raised bed is 44 & ¼" and the length is 93".

My over all height is 24inches. The same measurement as the galvanized wire.

I start off by Cutting 7 pieces of 2x3 at 41 &1/4". -I get this measurement by subtracting 3" to the over all length. This piece will be in between the two pieces of 2x 3 not on top.

Then I cut 9 pieces of 2x3 at 24'-Pre Drill the pieces all the way through the wood with 2 holes evenly spaced next to each other on the top for all of them. Pre Drill holes the same way on the bottom of 4 pieces of wood .

I cut 6 pieces of strapping 93" which is the over all length.-If this measurement is wrong the cage will not fit.

I cut 2 pieces at 21'' for the doorway on the front of the cage.

I am now ready to assemble the frame. I still will have to cut the side door way pieces and the doors.

In the video I lay all of the pieces out on the ground first.

Then I begin assembling each frame starting with the back piece. The side pieces are on the outside and pre drilled on the top & bottom. I attach one 41x1/4" piece of wood in between two pieces of 24" 2x3 wood across the top and bottom. The next one gets assembled with one piece of wood across the top and one about 2/3 of the way down for a roost (pre drill before attaching). The next one is just 2 pieces for the sides and one across the top. The last one to assemble is the front and there is a top and bottom and 2 sides. Then I evenly place the 2 pieces of 21" wood for the front doorway.

Before I attach the top strapping I draw out where I want to attach the middle frames and pre drill. I prop up each frame and lay a piece of pre cut strapping across the top edge on one side and attach the front and back frames. Then I do the middle pieces. Then I attach the next piece of strapping the same way.

You should be able to easily and safely flip the frame like I do in the video. Now I attach strapping along the bottom, just like I did on the top. Add any other doorways you would want now. The Light weight frame is now complete and it is time to skin the frame with wire. It is a good idea to pop the frame into the raised bed at this point, just to make sure it fits. Be sure to check that there will be enough space for the wire.

I'm using the 2ft wire and starting to wrap the wire at the back corner. I am using 1" wide washers that have the right size hole for the screws I'm using (1/4" thick). The washers make the wire attach flush to the Frame very well. Now I'm using 1" long nails with the washers. You don't want to have any part of the screw go thru the wood. As I go around the frame with the wire I make it as tight as possible.

Next I use the 4' wire across the top and fasten it in the same way using the washers. The wire is larger than the top of the frame so I flush it even to one side so I don't have to cut as much off. If you don't want to cut the wire you can fold it over and fasten the edge to the wood.

For the doors I cut out the wire between the doorways and set it aside to use on the actual doors. I measure the doorways and cut the wood to make a door way. Now I assemble the door frames, add the wire, hinges, and latch. Next I attach the door to the tractor making sure that it is level. I usually make it open out.

Next I cover the top with the tarp. I flush it to one edge with the reflective side up and fasten it down so it doesn't move and cut off the excess. The last thing left is to put more pieces of strapping around the top edge on top of the tarp.

The light weight Chicken tractor is now done.

Disclaimer: Please do not use my measurements. You will need to measure the inside of your raised bed and go and use your own measurements from there. These are just my plans for your review. This is an ultra light weight cage that most people with average strength can move on their own. The more wood you use and the thicker the wood you use the heavier it will be. Watch the videos with this document and refer to the images I have provided.