Chute, has anyone used one?

It would be hard to post pics of this. its just a fenced in "hoop" made out of 2x4 fencing. I have a small chicken door with the hoop fencing connected to it. I have a huge long fence line with a arborvitae hedge in front. it goes in the hedge runs 75 feet or more then the hoop pops out at the end of the yard into a fenced grass area. just picture a upside down U. anchored down to the ground with stakes. it is only for when we are home and around, it is not animal proof at all. it lands in a totally unprotected area with temporary fencing around it. one mistake we made to start with was making the tunnel too small and they were afraid of it. no matter how many treats we had. it was enclosed and very dark behind the hedge. we made it bigger about 2x2 and that fixed the problem. once one chicken made it down it only took a matter of time before all 6 figured it out some were a little slow. we baited them all the way down the tunnel. it was probably a few days before they all caught on. we were so surprised when we opened the little chicken door and went about our business. just to find them all down at the grass area!!! yeah!!! all the work paid off. working behind a arborvitae hedge with a fence behind that is hard work! wear thick clothing...

Good luck!
 
Here is a pic (I posted it before) of my tunnel that connect playhouse to kennel.
You are looking into it from kennel, so you see a hen in the sunny playhouse.
It's a great place to keep the water. I shut the door on it at night for security. It's a recycled cube-style end table,
sitting on cynder blocks to get proper elevation.

24145_cookie_tunnel.jpg
 
I have a series of short tunnels (2', 4', 6') that I can place in any configuration to get my ladies out to 1 large and 1 small tractor. Tractors are move to different places in the yard. I can send them in 1 direction to the smaller tractor and the other direction to the larger one, or to the smaller one in at one end and through and back out the other to the larger tractor. They know what I'm doing when I start moving them and they wait very impatiently at the pop door until I open it. Then they run out through the tunnels like children going out to recess. They're a hoot!

All the tunnels are open at both ends, but some also have doors that open on a side so I can use them as "intersections". Doors are held shut when not in use with clamps. They're not really preditor proof, but the ladies are never left out when we go somewhere, so they serve their purpose just fine.

43937_chicken_pen_010.jpg


Hope this works
caf.gif


Here's the song they sing while they're through the tunnels:

Hi ho, Hi ho,
It’s off to work we go
To our chicken tractor, where we go to mow
Eat bugs and so

Hi ho, Hi ho,
We love bugs and worms so
We do our best to get rid of pests
Eat grass, make poo,

And on we go, Hi ho
Our eggs Gary loves so
We’ll pop them out with a little shout
Then go, scratch, eat
And poo some mo

Hi Ho!
 
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kcsunshine..........LOL! I love your little diddy!

About the tunnels......for the ones that are pretty much just wire, do you ever have problems with predators (like large dogs), smashing the tunnel?
What a neat idea to get the chickens to different areas!
 
Our dog, a beagle, ignores the checkens and their runs. Our cat jumps up on them, but can't walk on the wire. I really don't leave them unattended, and they are sorta flimsy. When I have to re-do them, I'm going to put wood supports on the ends and in the middle of the longer ones. We occasionly have a large dog wander through the yard, but not when the beagle in on guard, so I haven't been too concerned. She knows they're out there, even if she's in the house. My husband always out in his shop or in the garden so he's very close to the chicken area. As I said, we always make sure they're back in their secured run before we leave the house.
 

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