How to Build a Simple, Sturdy Chicken Tractor from an IBC Tote

It doesn't get much easier than this! In an hour or less, you can construct a lightweight, sturdy, weather-proof, super-simple chicken tractor from a used 275 gallon IBC tote, with barely any extra materials needed! I'll walk you through the steps, even the mistakes I made, while building this chicken tractor. It's not huge, but when your chicks or ducklings are too big for their brooder and need a safe contained way to get on the grass, a dozen or so will have plenty of room in this until they're ready for a big coop or a grow-out pen. You can find used IBC totes easily between $50 and $100 dollars. Food grade is preferred, but more expensive. Some people will clean them for you, or you can save some money by cleaning them yourself. If it's not food grade, make sure you know what was in it before cleaning it out or using it for animal shelters!

Materials required:
$50 ~ $100 - 1 275 Gallon IBC tote (square cage rails preferred)
$22 - 25 feet of 3' wide chicken wire (this is enough for 2 chicken tractors!)
$12 - 6 stainless steel hose clamps (3/4" - 1 3/4" size)
$10 - 140 pack self tapping sheet metal screws (I used #10 x 1" and only needed 6 of them)
$10 - 100 pack (used about 50) UV resistant 8" zip ties

Total project cost for a single tractor: ~$100

Tools used:
Ryobi cordless drill
Ryobi cordless angle grinder
Scissors (or knife)
Level (or yardstick, broom handle, anything to help draw a straight line)

You'll have enough plastic bladder left over for a waterer, planter, animal shelter, or other creative ideas as well as a nice sturdy metal pallet.