Building a chicken moat/run around the garden in stages.

[Serenashome]

I've no idea if they will be a problem. I know we have them. Don't snakes steal eggs?

Truthfully we've no idea what we are doing on a fairly regular basis. hehe

 

[aart]

I've no idea if they will be a problem. I know we have them. Don't snakes steal eggs?

Truthfully we've no idea what we are doing on a fairly regular basis. hehe

They can but...it's not too common.


Well, you don't know until you know, right.
That's why I would encourage you to do things in a way that can be easily modified.

ETA...my coop is fort knox, but run is much looser....
.....safe for daytime, specifically hawks, but I'm home 90% of the time and yard is fenced.

 

[Jensownzoo]

I like your ideas so far! If you work it so the 4x4 posts on each fence are opposite each other, you could do one of those fancy-looking arbor tops between them. And for extra growing space, you could grow a vining plant in a container (or block it from the chickens with a wide board against the fence) and train it to climb up to the roof of your "moat". Assuming enough support, you can grow extra cucumbers, squash, etc as the fruit could be positioned to grow down through the wiring on top into the chicken space.

 

[Serenashome]

I like your ideas so far! If you work it so the 4x4 posts on each fence are opposite each other, you could do one of those fancy-looking arbor tops between them. And for extra growing space, you could grow a vining plant in a container (or block it from the chickens with a wide board against the fence) and train it to climb up to the roof of your "moat". Assuming enough support, you can grow extra cucumbers, squash, etc as the fruit could be positioned to grow down through the wiring on top into the chicken space.

That is a really good idea. It would provide nice shade for them as well.

 

[OEF5]

Hello everyone! I'm the one helping with this project! That's me in the photo of the panel, we don't do "small" very well.

 

[OEF5]

Ok so to keep everyone updated:

This weekend we built two more 5 foot fence panels just like the one pictured in my wife's original posts. We also determined that actual layout of the moat and how many panels it's going to take to complete the North side of the run on the outside only.

We are going to also try to put together a rough cost to the whole project when it's all said and done. We got a roll of 100' welded 2x4 wire at TSC and a 25' roll of 1/2 hardware cloth at Lowes. We just found this though, so we ordered a roll of that just in case anyone is interested. We paid a little over $40 for the hardware cloth at Lowes, so we felt this was a much better deal, and if you have Prime it's free two day shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009H53L0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

 

[OEF5]

Hmmm...one thing I was thinking as I looked at your first few pics, and out the window at my run and garden area....
.....is that it's pretty cool how the birds will clear the grass at the bottom of the run walls thru the 2x4 welded wire and out about 6" outside the walls.
it's great that I don't have to trim the grass around the run walls, just mow pretty close.
Then I saw the HC you are using at the bottom of the panels....so not quite sure where the HC will be in your moat/garden fence plan, but think about that.

This sounds awesome, however we have "rabbit guard" fence now, and the top of it is roughly 2x4 wire and Rabbits just climb through it. They have gone into the beds and made nests, eaten our new shoots of plants. So this is a dual purpose fence, it makes it to where the chickens can't get grabbed at all from the outside, and rabbits can't get in. If we get rabbits going over the whole thing, I'm gonna catch them, breed them and start a circus show with them!

I love all of the ideas you guys have already given us. I hope by the end of it, that we have a very good looking, dependable fence that's going to be long lasting and good looking around our garden.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Here's a link to a Mother Earth News article about incorporating chickens safely into a permanent garden.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...s/chicken-manure-fertilizer-zm0z13amzkon.aspx

Some very interesting ideas, hope it's not too late for your project if any of it is useful for you. I love the ability to let the chickens into some garden beds but not others.

I dont' have a setup like this so my girls are on lock down from early spring when I start planting till the gardens are well established and can handle some chicken stress.

 

[OEF5]

We are going to allow them to clear the beds in the fall in small doses during the day when we can watch over them. The garden won't have a cover over it and hawks would just tear them up if we didn't supervise them!

 

[aart]

I was thinking that using 2x4 fencing between moat and garden would keep that fence clear of growth.