Chicken playpen

[coolcanoechic]

I am building this to keep the girls out of my gardens this summer. It is easier than putting fencing around all of my veggie and flower beds. It still needs chicken wire and a little something on top for shade. It has a place to hide if something spooks them, and the wheels are lawn mower wheels so they should last. It is light enough to move around by myself too.

It will only be used for a couple of hours a day since I keep them safe in their coop and run when I cannot be there to keep an eye on them. That is why I'm using chicken wire instead of the pricey hardware cloth.

I can easily get them in and out of there with a plate of treats. They will follow me to the ends of the earth as long as I have treats!

 

[Aeropennchick]

Nice! My DH says maybe add some angled supports from the wheels to the roof part if you plan to move it often - the wood and screws might get warped or weak otherwise.

 

[coolcanoechic]

Thanks!
I actually plan to keep it in one place since they will quickly make it into a bare dirt patch. I want to keep the rest of my lawn in tact. I will only need to move it ocasionally to get through with the camper. I know that angles will make it more rigid, but the more wood we add, the heavier it gets. We want to keep it as light as possible, so we left them out.
It has been rolled around a few times and seems pretty solid. It has not wracked at all when moving, so I think it will be ok. If wracking does occur, we would definately add those angles.

 

[G-Man]

Looks great, I'm sure your girls are going to love it.

What are the pen dimensions?
What are you thinking about using for the shade?

Looking forward to seeing them playing inside.

 

[coolcanoechic]

The pen is 8 ft by 10 ft. I was thinking about using the same plastic roofing as over the hiding spot. It is light as a feather. I won't cover the whole thing, because of the weight issue. Maybe half of it.

 

[minpinmama]

That looks to nice. We're looking for ideas but rather than one big coop we wanted individual ones similar to yours
for each trio or quad. How many hens will be in there at a time?
I was thinking maybe something twice as big your 'place to hide' with roosts and nesting boxes.
But love the 8 x 10. I wonder if that is enough space for a trio or quad.
We'd have to wire on top, we have lots of eagles in our area.

 

[coolcanoechic]

Hi Minpinmama,
Right now I have two hens. I am hoping for a couple more soon. There is ample room there for four hens. This pen is not meant as a place to live, but a place to play. It will not keep predators out except for hawks. It may keep the neighbors dogs at bay long enough for me to chase them out. The box does not contain a roost or nesting box. There isn't even a floor in it. It is only meant as a place to hide if something spooks them. This is why I call it their play pen. They will only be in while I am out there with them.

This might be a good starting point for you if you are looking for something similar. Certainly, it would need to be done a little differently if you wanted to keep chickens in something like this full time. Have you been through all the coop pages to get some ideas? I spend lots of time looking even though I have already built my coop.

 

[TrishinWTN]

We built a little "playpen" for our "teenage" leghorns and red sexlink. http://liveandlearnfarm.com/teenage-chicks-playpen/ I thought we would be the only ones calling it a playpen... and then we saw this post. Love it! LOL!!!

 

[coolcanoechic]

We built a little "playpen" for our "teenage" leghorns and red sexlink. http://liveandlearnfarm.com/teenage-chicks-playpen/ I thought we would be the only ones calling it a playpen... and then we saw this post. Love it! LOL!!!

Do you have any more pics where you can see the whole thing? It looks like your young ladies are enjoying it

 

[PatQ]

I quickly built this little playpen for my 2 week old chicks (I slide a piece of plywood over part of it for shade) - it's been so nice out (until yesterday -brrrr) - this is great for now, but I'm going to need something bigger soon and yours looks great! They have a nice integrated coop/run, but I want something for fake free ranging to keep them out of the garden etc. - Thanks!