Closing in underneath trampoline?

[Jen71]

This is a daytime run only.

Yes. A predator most certainly could climb down in between the springs and get the chickens.

During the daytime, what is the likelihood of that happening?
I hope those of you with more experience than I can let me know.

So many people let their chickens free range in their yards during the daytime. This is safer than having them free ranging.
Or is it?

 

[wooklet]

Could a cat get through there? Other thing is sparrows, don't know if you have any around you but they drive us batty here, not that they are dangerous, but they'll consume a lot of food!

 

[ArizonaNessa]

I have seen where people did this very thing but what I like to do with trampoline frames is make hoop coops!

 

[Jen71]

Quote:
I agree - that would be amazing. Hoop coops are cool!
But then we cannot use our trampoline. This way, we can let the chickens out to free range, and jump on the trampoline.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Ahhhh I see now.

 

[Athornburg]

Oh - wow! This is the best thing ever. I am so glad we did it. You can hardly even tell we did anything. Our backyard looks basically the same.
Now I can leave my chickens outside during the daytime without being afraid of them being attacked. I think the chances of a predator attack in the daytime are low - am I right?? I hope so.

For a door, we have simply overlapped one whole section of wire. It's secured with clothespins & a garden stake. When we want to climb in, we un-latch it, and the door opening is very wide. I hope this makes sense.

This only cost us $49 AUS - for the hardware cloth (it's green coated) and zip ties. We had some of this wire on our back fence (you can see it in the first photo). We removed that and used it for half the trampoline, but had to buy another 5 meters to cover the rest of the space. So for a 14 foot trampoline, it might have cost $100AUS to buy the wire.

Also - you can see the metal rabbit hutch in there. We removed one wall from it so the chickens can easily get in and out. They love that cozy space in there and I'm hoping that will make a good nesting box when the time comes.

If you are considering doing this, I highly recommend it. Very easy, effective, and a great use of the space.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

CLOSEUP: