Ahhh, I was not thinking the metal duct tape. I was talking the tough fabric like Gorilla tape. I do not think they could pick through it. The metal being shiny would be a magnet for them....
BUT again, no guarantees, just my humble opinion.
Hmmm
After looking at your pictures, I wonder if you could wrap the metal in foam and wrap the foam in DUCK tape. I am not sure the chickens could peck through two layers of duck tape.
Duck tape fixes everything!
If you did not want foam maybe newspapers wrapped around them for...