Build a Chunnel...

[Happy Aussie Gardener 53]

Hi, you can learn to trim your chicken's feathers on one wing only. But find instructions on Google so you are sure to cut the right ones and the correct way.
Many years ago when I kept chickens we had a dreadful winter and their big yard was a mess. I made a similar tractor and rested their yard by applying some lime and lots of straw and garden waste. Years later when my chickens had all gone to chooky heaven...I had the most fantastic garden in that area that was their run.

 

[Andrew67]

I love this idea and the pics!

I was going to build a chicken tractor to let my girls explore around the yard and do some weed-abatement, but

1) We have a problem with red-tailed hawks and their love of chicken meat.
2) I didn't want to have to worry about food, water, and getting them back into the coop at night.

Well, now I'm thinking I could built something like this that could be fixed to the main run, and then moved / snaked around the yard. The girls would be safe, and also be able to go back for food, water, sleep at night as needed.

What do y'all think? Would this work? Any ideas on how to make this happen?

 

[Krugerrand]

I love this idea and the pics!

I was going to build a chicken tractor to let my girls explore around the yard and do some weed-abatement, but

1) We have a problem with red-tailed hawks and their love of chicken meat.
2) I didn't want to have to worry about food, water, and getting them back into the coop at night.

Well, now I'm thinking I could built something like this that could be fixed to the main run, and then moved / snaked around the yard. The girls would be safe, and also be able to go back for food, water, sleep at night as needed.

What do y'all think? Would this work? Any ideas on how to make this happen?

a lot depends on how supervised they'll be in something like this. It would be a huge project to have something this large fully secured. But, if it's not a 24x7 vulnerability, you might be able to make it work.

 

[Andrew67]

Thanks!

Our hawks aren't super aggressive, but enough that if left completely open we'd lose some of our smaller girls. I want to believe that a really light-weight tunnel would be sufficient for basic protection during the day.

I'll need to think on this a bit more to consider the pros/cons.

 

[Krugerrand]

Thanks!

Our hawks aren't super aggressive, but enough that if left completely open we'd lose some of our smaller girls. I want to believe that a really light-weight tunnel would be sufficient for basic protection during the day.

I'll need to think on this a bit more to consider the pros/cons.

I'd be mostly worried about racoons and coyotes. It would take quite a bit of work to make something like that secure from them.

 

[Ddb123]

Build a Chunnel...

Keep in mind there is more then one right way to do anything... As for me and our Chunnel, I used 3 foot- 1x1 inch hardware cloth. Hardware cloth is strong. It's also predator proof compared to chicken wire, and I have 12 children, plus grandchildren and a sweet dog, we also live by the mountains with predators so our housing needs to be sturdy!

I ran the Chunnel from my main coop/run behind my shed. I have about 18" behind the shed and it's 10 ft long. Because the shed has a big gap underneath I made the Chunnel a full 72 inch circle. I clipped the raw edge, overlapped a two inch seam at the top so the hens wouldn't be walking on it and tied with zip ties. Note: To avoid injury, every time I cut a new piece of hardware cloth I trimmed the pointy raw edge off. This just seemed like a good idea.

I spanned the space between the main coop/run and the Chunnel with wooden screen panels. I used the hardware cloth again, stapled to wood 2x2's. The panels are lockable for security and removable so I can clean under the coop.

The next 20 feet, runs from the shed to the second Run. I made the Chunnel in a half circle of 5 ft 4 inches, using the same 1x1 inch hardware cloth. Seven- 3 feet sections, overlapped a couple of inches and connected together with zip ties. Note: The extra 4 inches of hardware cloth in the half circle that hits the ground, I folded over tight, about 2 inches both sides to keep the edges clean and safe should a hen try to scratch under. I secured the arch to the ground with heavy duty landscape pins.

Every 3 feet I supported the arch with 5 foot lengths of 1/2 inch electrical conduit bent in a half circle and secured to the ground with 1/2 inch- foot long, rebar. The structure is permanent but some of these lengths are removable for cleaning by clipping a couple zip ties and pulling a few landscape pins and pulling up the section off the rebar.

Yes- that's my little boy in there trying it out with the girls!

Notes: I got most everything at Home Depot and the guy in electrical, bent the seven 5 ft lengths of conduit into a half circle for me. I love Home Depot for their attention to their customers. They may not do this at your store but playing a bumfuzzled middle-aged mom with two little ones in tow sometimes works wonders. Now come-on if your a woman you've played this card...

Hope this reads ok. Contact me with any questions- happy to share any info. This project was not hard, just labor intensive. I recruited helping hands where I needed to, but mostly built it myself. I free range my hens in the yard at about 7:00 pm till roost, but during the day the coop, runs and Chunnel keeps them happy and safe.
Enjoy your project- we're here to help you!
mamadawn

Thank you for writing how you made your chicken tunnels and including photos of your process. I am wondering how the zip ties have held up?