Salatin vs Suscovich Chicken Tractor - We Found A MAJOR Flaw!

Suscovich Chicken Tractor - MAJOR Flaw!
We've found a major flow in the John Suscovich Chicken Tractor. For our purposes, there is something major missing and we are going to have to switch to the Salatin style chicken shelter.
Our pastured chickens are raised on our farm from the brooder to processing. Being able to raise these birds on pasture is a major part of our operation.
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[@shavanerad9038]

Thumbs up for the critique. Points off for making me watch you do construction for seven minutes before the 30 seconds of actual content explaining what your critique was. Looking forward to a follow up for how it ends up suiting you.

[@dwighthires3163]

I love to learn from others and this is an excellent opportunity. Thank you for your teaching.

[@batpherlangkharkrang7976]

Hi..... Thank you 🏡🎥👍👍👍

[@LukeBiddy]

Hey Chuck great video on upgrades coming to your farm. I have designed a Suscovich style tractor made entirely of PVC. It is 8’x10 and will hold 50 birds quite nicely. I will share it to this video once I get it finished.

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Nice. We just need more space. We’ll see how this one works out. Appreciate y’all watching

[@mikegriffin2904]

Great video Chuck.

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Thanks. Appreciate y’all watching

[@bryanpearce4440]

Excellent video!

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Thanks. Appreciate y’all watching

[@hardstrugglehomestead9310]

You are absolutely correct about the size limitations with the Suscovich style tractor. We found that the pastures we run our birds on is too rocky for either to move easily so we are going to switch to a Justin Rhodes style chickshaw this year and see if we can essentially just run our broilers in just poultry netting. Look forward to see what you think about the switch.

[@davehicks335]

We have a modified ChickShaw for (what was initially) 25 birds. Roosting, 6 nesting boxes, etc. Have issues with the bike wheels and when it's full of adult birds PLUS the weight of the ChickShaw itself....it be heavy! I am liking Richard Perkins new design honestly but, again, looking to modify that as well to even include a water collection system integrated into the 6" PVC skids....always looking to improve on designs.

[@DickyBenfield]

Odd, I think KZbin deleted my comment. Probably because I linked to something on Amazon to show what I was talking about. Anyway, looking good. Keep up the good work.

[@john20044330]

I love the audio you got going now! Your voice can be heard great now! Almost stopped watching your videos because i couldn’t hear you.

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Thanks. Glad we made the update. Appreciate y’all watching

[@hideawayhomestead3477]

Same here. It was frustrating. Stopped listening for a while. This was a pleasant surprise tonight when the whole video could be heard!

[@SheratonParkFarms]

@@hideawayhomestead3477 thanks. Glad we got the new equipment. Appreciate y’all watching

[@barryday4907]

Have built them both, as well as a modified Salatin out of PVC. At "THIS TIME" - I prefer being able to walk in the chicken tractor. I understand sectioning off parts on harvest day, but the new one you built, I believe will be difficult to work with, just too much wood to support the weight - making it heavier and more cumbersome. Just my opinion of course. Look forward to your follow up as we are much newer to this than you and many on here, so not criticizing - just curious.

[@christophermiller5041]

I have no experience with either, but my first thought was the weight difference and moving them around with that in mind.

[@LukeBiddy]

I have designed a Suscovich style tractor made entirely from PVC. We grew up with the Salitin style and also made one of those out of PVC but really looking forward to being able to walk inside the pen.

[@SheratonParkFarms]

It’s actually very light. Be really easy fire one person to move. We are going to test it. I’m due there are limitations to it as well. Thanks for watching

[@MrBwinslow]

Awesome, did you guys find aluminum for the outside or are you using steel or plastic?

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Can’t find the aluminum anywhere. We are going to try some plastic roofing in a light color abs see how it does. Thanks for watching

[@MrBwinslow]

@@SheratonParkFarms I ran into the same thing. Thanks for the videos.

[@reneebrown2968]

Dang if that isn't a huge chicken tractor.

[@davehicks335]

When one compares Salatin to Rhodes ChickShaw to Suskovich and calculate, as you did Chuck, the number of birds per square foot and add in the cost of materials most will land on the Salatin model BUT I would encourage anyone looking to build any of these to understand that your time is money. If one "pays" themselves $25/hr and it takes 24 hours to build one of these, that's another $600. If selling birds for $20/each, a Suskovich will have to run two groups of birds through before it makes $1 in profit... How many birds will have to run through that unit before the materials are paid for? One's labor? Then consider that using pressure treated lumber NOT RATED for ground contact means those bottom runners WILL rot in a few years time. Why not add some PVC runners to the bottom to prevent this? Richard Perkins has a good design and setup that I really like right now. Worth checking out. Good video Chuck. Thanks for sharing as always.

[@tonychaudoin2548]

Prayers for you ! Will you have wheels on this one ? And will the top open up?

[@SheratonParkFarms]

We are building a dolly for the back side. Yes it will have a lid that opens. Thanks for watching

[@brianboe3774]

Y’all got a screw shortage?

[@fooddude9921]

I followed this fellas modifications to the Suscovich tractor - still rock solid after 3 years now. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXiTgoGofbmioaM

[@bsmit24]

Why does the Suscovich use a peaked roof instead of a simple arch? A simple arch/semi circle would be easy to bend and cover.

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Conduit is actually not very easy to bend consistently without a specific tool.

[@tyrelnatashanuzum8956]

What about cow panel? Would that cut tarp or be more expensive?

[@alanpinnt]

Built the Salatin style. Honestly they all have flaws. I think the Suscovich style is more for looks than any. Salatins honestly suck in my opinion. Crawling inside gets old. Only having a door on one side doesn't work well. Eventually the roof will push in the center over time. You'll see it happen on Salatin's own farm if you look at videos or go there. Doesn't fully cave in but it does drop. Other reason I dislike Salatins is the roofing material is expensive. That and even if you follow Salatins style to a T, it's still very heavy, and doesn't move well. Suscovich style has plenty of issues as well. 2x4s is way to heavy for something that small. The conduit could be swapped for 1x3 or 1x2. I still think the roof should be lower. Better setup might be lower the roof on Suscovich, go wider, lighter materials, and there might be a winner there. I've been hashing out some designs for a bit now. Just not happy how Salatins perform or Suscovich for me at least. The A frame ones seem like a waste of materials. Also, Suscovich are too open in the early/late seasons. Overall my thoughts are making a easy to build chicken mobile housing that doesn't take a million different cuts but is also light enough, but heavy enough for winds, is cost effective, quick to build, and is focused on providing the best environment for the chickens.

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

You need weight if you go high with the roof or you have issue with strong wind in open space area. Suscovich style is better is because it's more natural suited for chicken who prefer to roost on higher places than laying low on the ground. So it's not just look about look, or cost of construction on the amount of chicks.

[@alanpinnt]

@@lukeryuzaki2328 I would agree with that, that you need the weight for the height. But the roof doesn't need to be that high. It's designed for humans, not chickens. They don't need a high roost. Generally chicken tractors, including Suscovich one, is more so designed for cornish cross or other meat birds and roosting isn't needed. Sure you could modify it but it's not especially a good design for them either.

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

@@alanpinnt I understand the concept of broiler and the economical sense for farmer to trying to extract more profit from the all the cost. I may be more idealist here, but I believe the broiler consumer need to change (slowly). As in, the regenerative approach is mostly beneficial for the soil, but the broiler's meat quality is not greatly improved with this kind of tractor. Just too many people want those big tender chicken breast without realizing it's going against the nature of a chicken. Animal welfare wise, it's much better than caged, or indoor micro controlled farm. It's just that doing it like this is resource wasteful. You're going against nature by putting a heavily man made selectively bred outside against the natural elements; feed cost, labor cost, mortality loss accountability... would be higher. Only the pasture gain the real benefit from this "pastured" chicken operation. The "true" economical yield is not very high than a chicken breed that is more suitable for the outdoor settings. Smaller serving size of natural chicken is a different ball game in pastured chicken operation.

[@toddcaskey9984]

Maybe a chicken scooner is in your guys futher . 🤪

[@lifeandliberty0172]

I thought the Salatin style looked like shit when i first saw them. You cant get in it if theres a need to, and metal roofing only two feet or so off the ground is way too hot in most areas. I built a Suscovitch type, it works well. The only flaw is the tarp. DONT USE FUCKING TARPS! They inevitably fall apart and distribute plastic across your farm. I took the emt ribs off, made 2x3 wood rafters, and put old rusty barn roofing on. Works great. And also actual wheels on the pivot end. Even with the weight of the metal its easy to move. Its also good as a shade and rain structure for sheep, pigs, etc. NO TARP!!!

[@jasonalexander5789]

John Suscovich and Joe Salatin are expert farmers, imo you are not.

[@SheratonParkFarms]

Your opinion is shared by many. Thanks for watching.