chicken moat, anyone else have one?

[MaureenL128]

that is awesome!!! what a great idea!

 

[faykokoWV]

That gap under the gate looks incredibly dangerous

You can't see it in the picture, but the fencing actually extends past the wooden part of the gate to the ground. We have 7 dogs so we don't have a huge problem with ground predators. We've had this set up for 2 years now and haven't lost any birds that were in the run to predators. We did have a problem with the bird netting being pulled down by snow. In hindsight, I would recommend the higher fencing so a cover wasn't needed over the run.​

 

[PortugalBreeder]

Quote:
You can't see it in the picture, but the fencing actually extends past the wooden part of the gate to the ground. We have 7 dogs so we don't have a huge problem with ground predators. We've had this set up for 2 years now and haven't lost any birds that were in the run to predators. We did have a problem with the bird netting being pulled down by snow. In hindsight, I would recommend the higher fencing so a cover wasn't needed over the run.

Oh, OK, that way looks good to me.

 

[silkiechicken]

Neat moat. I don't have one like that, but almost do. Chickens free range and gardens are fenced in.

 

[patman75]

This site is just never ending in helpful information.

I just read the chicken moat artical in motherearth and I knew there had to be info on it the BYC.

I was already planing on building a chicken pasture attached to my run next to my garden and 2 sides would of been surrounded by the run/pasture. It wont be that much more to surround the other two sides.

Now I just have to debate between 4 and 6 foot fencing...

And I'm definately using that gate design. Thanks for all the helpful info faykokoWV.

 

[faykokoWV]

Quote:
If I were doing it over again I would use 6 foot fence and bring it to a peak at the top. The 4 foot fence requires bird netting over the top, which we found out does not hold up to snow. It was pulled down last year. we made some modifications and its holding so far this year. The 6 foot fence is significantly more expensive though.

 

[patman75]

Quote:
If I were doing it over again I would use 6 foot fence and bring it to a peak at the top. The 4 foot fence requires bird netting over the top, which we found out does not hold up to snow. It was pulled down last year. we made some modifications and its holding so far this year. The 6 foot fence is significantly more expensive though.

So if you had the 6ft fence you would just bend it at the 4ft mark and connect each side together?

What are you using to hold the netting to the fence with? My chickens hate the snow and I doubt they would ever go in the moat if there was any snow present. That 6 ft fencing is a lot more $$. I could use that cash for posts, netting, etc. However I dont like that idea of crawing through a 4 foot tall mout for one reason or another (I'm 6 foot tall).

 

[faykokoWV]

I would use 6 ft fence and make an A-Frame, you would still have to duck to get through it if your 6 ft tall though. Technically, if its 6 ft tall most breeds would not be able to fly out of it and you would probably not have to net the top. .

We have the netting tied to the fence with zip ties, so its easy to repair if it breaks. It gives enough that I can stand up in the run, but I'm only 5'1" so its not a problem for me.

 

[owler]

I made some of my moat just this month. I used six foot fencing for the sides and four foot fencing for the top.

 

[patman75]

Quote:
Owler, very nice BYC pages. Can't wait to see the final results and the moat.