Closing in underneath trampoline?

[Jen71]

Well, my kids are at school all day long. So they won't be jumping on it during the day - and certainly not if the chickens are under there!

We do use the trampoline quite a bit on weekends, but then the chickens can be free ranging because we're here to hang out with them.
I think we will do it and I will take lots of pictures for all of you.

If anyone has any thoughts on how to secure the hardware cloth to the posts, that would be great.
Thanks!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I don't have photos to share, but let me describe what I did. I had a trampoline whose frame & floor were fine, but the elastic bands that secured the floor to the frame were fraying so that it couldn't be used for jumping. I stretched 2"X 2" wire all around the outside of the frame, securing it with good ol' plastic zip-ties. I could have used bits of wire to make it more permanent, maybe I'll do that a little at a time as the zip-ties break & need replacing. I also zip-tied some plastic landscape edging all around the bottom edge around the frame.

For the door I made a frame of 1" X 3" wood, about 20" square I think, set with hinges & a latch in a frame that is just large enough to fit around it. I secured the outer frame to the wire around the trampoline frame with mending plates screwed over a few of the wires & into the wood, and cut a hole in the wire mesh to accomodate the door.

I have woven strips of plastic mesh through the spaces between the elastic straps that hold the floor of the trampoline to the frame around the top. And secured a long section of wide PVC across the top from which to hang a feeder. There are also long pieces of pipe stuck through the wire mesh and going across part of the middle for roosts. And a sheet of corregated plastic secured over it to keep the birds dry when it rains.

If the elastic straps on this trampoline were still in good shape & we wanted to keep using it for recreation, we would have to constantly add & remove the plastic mesh around the top, the pipe that holds the feeder, and the plastic sheet that protects the birds from the rain.

A determined predator could possibly dig underneath the edge of this, or claw through the plastic mesh woven through the spaces between the elastic springs. I have lost a few birds to predators who reached through the side & grabbed someone who was perched too close to the wire. I have tried to remedy that by placing denser mesh around the sides near the roost.

 

[Jen71]

This is amazingly helpful. Sunny Side Up. Thank you for taking the time to write all of this.
I hadn't considered a door at all. So I will use your tips to figure out a way to include that in my plans.

I am really looking forward to this now. Yipppee!

 

[elmo]

Yup, I had one of these. There's a picture on my BYC page. I used zip ties to attach the wire to the frame.

It had a couple of design flaws, and I've discarded it in favor of a new tractor I'm in the process of building. I built the access door too small, which made it a pain to put the food and water inside. There was no good way to provide some shelter from rain with the flat roof. And I built it before my hens were laying and forgot I'd need some way to put in the nestbox. The access door was too small, so I had to cut a trap door in the roof. It was a pain to have to take out all the accessories before I moved the tractor.

Plus, the wire apron sometimes crumpled under as I moved the tractor around.

 

[Jen71]

This info is very helpful Elmo - thank you.

I am going to work on enclosing the area under our trampoline this weekend. Some points that have been highlighted in this thread are:
- create a door big enough for people to enter
- consider rain protection needs
- consider how the trampoline will be moved around the yard
- keep roosts away from the outer edge
- consider nesting boxes & make it relatively easy to collect eggs

I'll update this thread with photos and details of my efforts.
Thanks!

 

[Gypsi]

Wow - great minds think alike. Too bad the family trampoline has moved on down the line!

I'm thinking zip ties (wire ties - plastic - cheap and sturdy to secure it)

 

[Flippacase]

Someone did it in this post.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=266121&p=1

 

[Jen71]

It's great to see pics & a description from people who have done this previously. Thank you all for contributing to this thread. You've inspired me to take action right away!

We're in the process of enclosing the area under our trampoline right now. We've decided to use 1/2" green coloured hardware cloth. You can barely see it when you stand back from the trampoline.

We've taken the wire off the short side of a small metal rabbit enclosure to use as a nesting area/rain cover area.
We have some old logs we're going to throw in to use as roosts.

I'm taking pics of the whole process and I'll update this thread tonight with details.
This is a daytime run for our chickens and I bet they are going to LOVE it in there!

 

[Jen71]

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:

 

[QuackerOats]

This is a very awesome idea! Very good use of space!

Just a thought, for your chickens safety - Is there any chance a predator could climb on top of the trampoline and climb down in the space between the springs? :S