In this informal farm vlog, John, the creator of the Stress‑Free Chicken Tractor plans, and his wife Kate walk host Rebecca (and the kids) through a typical spring routine of moving, inspecting, and maintaining their pasture‑based chicken tractors. They discuss the low‑cost design (13 $ wheels, 10 × 14‑ft tarps, 30‑bird capacity), the process of adding wheels, loading onto a trailer, and shuttling the units across the field. The segment includes practical tips such as tying the tractor with a "canoe knot," repairing or replacing worn wheels, improvising a homemade waterer and PVC heater, and dealing with a dead battery on a small farm buggy. John explains the primary benefit of the system—letting chickens graze, which improves egg and meat quality—while Kate shares how the tractors have held up for four years since they were built in 2013. The family also references John’s book, Stress‑Free Chicken Tractor Plans, and its accompanying workbook that detail construction, feeding calculations, and temperature monitoring. Light‑hearted moments (photobombing a time‑lapse, kids making faces) illustrate the collaborative, low‑stress ethos of the operation.
Chapters
As much as anything is stress-free in farming. Um, they, uh, they solved a lot of the design issues that I was having trouble with, and, uh, I've been happy with it.
Beautiful morning here in Connecticut. Beautiful soil and kind of beautiful weather. It's a little, it's a little cold.
It feels pretty good.
John says it's seasonably Too cold.
Yeah.
Mama checking out the pigs. They look happy this morning. Do you guys have— do you guys pass the happy test?
Yeah, they're eating rocks.
Oh wow, I think that's what they're doing.
It sounds like they're eating rocks. Look what I found.
Oh wow, throw that to them, see if they eat it.
Are they eating it?
I don't think so.
Nope.
We're getting ready to set out the meat birds to pasture. Gonna do it in this field. Problem is the chicken tractors are way down there and it's wet and cold, so all the water's down there. So we're gonna get them up here and then gradually move them down there as the weather gets warmer. What's the plan here, John?
We're gonna— we have to move these chicken tractors across the farm. So Kate's gonna put the wheels on, I'm gonna spin them around, we're gonna walk them up the ramp, get them onto this trailer. They were designed originally to fit on this trailer. I'm just gonna shuttle them across the, uh, across the field here.
And everyone, this is John's wife Kate.
Hello!
The brains behind the operation.
Oh, this is the fourth year on these ropes.
Nice.
So just now, this is the first time I just had them break. So on the list of things to do to update, there's always those spring chores.
Okay, my boots have a hole in them too, so we have plenty of reasons to go shopping.
Tough time of year to have a hole in your shoes.
Oh, okay.
We're gonna want those wheels, Kate.
You, you have one set of wheels for all of them, huh?
Yeah, for each batch of chicken tractors we have one set of wheels.
Yeah, because you're only gonna move one at a time.
They were $13 apiece. Save some money, a little easier for us. How many chickens can you put in that, uh, with 2 square feet per bird, it fits 30 chickens.
Nice.
And then the other unit of measurement, how many children can you fit inside a chicken tractor?
Uh, we'll give you guys 4 square feet, so 15. Humanely raised chidlers right there. Everybody good?
Yeah. Driving out of control.
Ah, she's angry.
There we go. It's an old machine. Come on, come on.
Battery powered.
Battery powered. Batteries are getting tired. Yeah, older batteries. I guess that the weight was a little much.
Oh, sorry.
No, it's all right. I just don't think we'll do that.
All right, nope. Okay guys, that was your one ride. How was it? It's a lot of weight for that thing to carry.
Thank you. The first one's always critical. It's easy after that.
But to make sure you're in your right angle down the field so you don't end up, you know, too cockeyed. Over 8 chicken tractors, that's, you know, if they're 6 feet, 6 times 8, that's what, like a million feet?
48.
Looks good to me. Lather, rinse, repeat.
John's gonna keep hauling those. Kate's gonna set it up. I see he gave the physical work too. He's like, oh yeah, I'll go drive the I'll go drive the farm cart. See, you go ahead and set up.
It brings in the brawn of the operation. It's never— it's never easy. I don't care. I'd actually rather be doing this. Yeah, there's, there's something to be said for like having to haul up a chicken tractor versus doing the little details and getting into small spaces. I don't mind that. How old are these tractors? Like, when did you build them? 4 years ago.
Wow, doing pretty good.
Yeah, they're holding up all right. Remember the number easily because because we started the farm when I was expecting Mabel. Uh-huh. And she's almost 4, so that means these are almost 4.
Did you help him build them?
I sure did. How pregnant were you? Not very pregnant. No, no, not as pregnant as you can get. Mabel's birthday is smack dab in the middle of summer, so—
Ah.
So yeah.
Can Rebecca help you? Can she be tying up the other end?
Yeah, sure, that'd be great. I don't know how to do that knot. It's okay. If you don't know knots, just tie lots. I'm not proficient. That's what we—
What knot did you tie?
Uh, I, you know what, there's a name for it and John has a whole video on it, but I'm, I don't know. It's the, I call it the canoe knot because when we used to go camping, it was what we would use. We probably knew the knot because we took canoeing. Oh, did you? Well, this, this was just what we used to keep the canoe tied to the car. Across. And then one. Two. Okay, three. And then under.
Okay, handy handy knot.
You go like that, it should stay just where it needs to. You can slide it. Good, I have lots of practice too.
Let's wait.
Ah, we're locked in.
Well, this is a humane person cage.
Yeah, technically we could live for a really long time in here. We could.
Gideon's all like, let me out.
We're not near the mint. Did you smell all the mint down there?
No, I didn't pick up on it. Should we photobomb John's time-lapse? Come on, come on. John's taking a time-lapse. He's down there. Oh, he's coming back. Let's wait, let's wait till next time and then we'll photobomb his lap. See, John's a YouTuber as well as a farmer. He's got a time-lapse going. We'll do that when he goes back to get the next chick— the next chicken tractor. What's next?
Next we add the top to protect the birdies.
Same tarps for 4 years?
Same time.
Wow, it's going strong.
Yeah, I mean, we try to take care of this stuff. Yeah, looking for longevity here. Yeah. Um, so what we've done in the past is because it's a little longer than we need, we end up folding it over. Okay. Um, for there. So let's just see what's easiest.
Help them out, kids. Lift up the tarp down there. Good job. Whoop, whoop, whoop. Right here, right here.
Here, I'll help.
Awesome. There you go.
What'd you say, boss?
One side gets anchored on and then the other side folds over because we got 10 by 15 tarps and we needed 10 by 14. But a little clever farmer fix and yeah, you make it work.
Okay, and I see that you gave yourself the driving job, man. What's up with that?
Well, you know, I like to sit down. I don't want to do the hard work. That's not why I got in the farming.
What's the primary benefit of this tractor, John?
Putting birds out on pasture. Primary benefit of all the thing— our management choices is right here. That's, that's why we do this. That's what makes a difference in our eggs and our meat and, uh, just our day-to-day. Grass is a beautiful thing.
You got this, honey?
I think so.
You're just zip tying it down to the bottom.
I think that this is definitely Rebecca Farmer-proof, meaning this is easy.
What's the subtitle of your book? Chicken Track Stress-Free Chicken Tractor. Stress-Free Chicken Tractor Plant.
Step-by-step guide how to do it.
Yeah. Okay, so you've been using these for 4 years. Are they indeed stress-free?
Uh, well, I mean, as much as anything is stress-free in farming, um, they, uh, they solved a lot of the design issues that I was having trouble with. And, uh, I've been happy with them. I built the chicken tractors that we're moving today in 2013, and I've never had to repair broken ones.
Okay, nice. He's going back to his hard work pushing the pedal.
Someone's got to do it.
Can I go?
Where are you going?
Just to go.
Where? Oh, ride with him?
Yeah, just one at a time.
Why don't you ride in the front with him? Okay, that's probably the best. Can he ride in the front with you? Yeah, absolutely. Okay. That's not too much weight?
Nah, it'll be alright.
Okay. That's not any more than cake, no way.
Yeah, we made it with cake. We'll make it with you guys. Yeah, the little handle spins. You guys ready?
Hang on to Mr. Brown. He's hanging on to you, Jenna.
Alright, here we go.
And you can go next time, okay? Josiah, let's go photobomb this time lapse.
Yeah!
Okay, there's the time-lapse. Okay, now when you photobomb a time-lapse, you have to hold the face for a really long time because it takes a shot every 3 or 5 seconds. Okay, so everybody make a ridiculous face as you can and hold it. Okay, hold it.
You add in one child. I think it's okay.
All right, I think we got it. Okay, don't tell him. Be real cool about it, okay? What next, Kate?
Next, chicken tractor. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Let me see that bucket, Rebecca. Okay, let's get a look at this homemade waterer. Just chicken nipples cut, uh, drilled into the bottom. Let's see how they connect on the other side. Okay, it looks like it screws in. Yeah, and you're just gonna set that in there? Are you gonna hang it up? They don't have the chains.
They have to go get them.
Oh, okay.
Put it in there so that it's—
All right, got set up. They got their homemade heater from PVC and their water warmer. The other way, the other way, Josiah.
The little farm buggy.
Battery went dead, but he's got a tractor, so we're gonna keep on keeping on. I want to show you guys something just in case you want to build these chicken tractors. I think that's what John's pretty much known for. Well, he wrote the book on it, Stress-Free Chicken Tractor Plans, and I've been thumbing through it. It looks pretty legit. It also comes with this handy-dandy workbook, but it's got things like this in it. Remember those knots we were tying this morning? Well, they're in here somewhere. There they are. Plus 2 more, and the chicken time frame, plus how much do these chickens eat over the entire lifetime, how, how do you know if the chickens are too warm or too cold. It's some good stuff. I'll leave a link for that in the description. You guys get ready to go in.
Are you getting ready to pull?
I better take these guys in. It is a little chilly here, and I think, I think they're to their max, and I think we would get gold.
Can I get soaked? I'm real freezing. Yeah, a lot of rain.
Okay, give me one second. We'll come back there. Lily, can you carry the tripod for me? Yeah, I'll carry the drone, you carry the tripod. Where are the brothers?
