Fencing Ideas for Rocky, Uneven terrain

[chickenbythesea]

we have the same problem here on the coast... all we have is rocks everywhere under the top inch of soil. We built our coop in the woods (both for shade and aesthetics ) and used the trees as our posts. We did use chicken wire (i know a lot of people have issues with it but we've never had predator problems and it's more to keep the hens in) and wood that we cut down to make the space for the run. We've had our hens there for a year and they're happy and very safe and it was relatively inexpensive.

 

[CGinJCMO]

Thank you for showing me your run, ChickenByTheSea. I bet your German shepherd dog has something to do with the lack of predators. LOL

I do envy your trees. Last year, I've had 4 die (two in the front yard and two in the backyard right next to the swing set so now the kids don't have a shady spot to play under). They weren't even the same kind of trees (like all Elm trees) so I don't know what could affect Maple, Oak and something with smaller leaves (didn't know what it was -the dead limbs in my last photo is leftovers from it). Hubby wants to have a Red Bud so we'll try to replace with at least one of those. I want to try growing an apple tree, pear tree or cherry tree for the pretty springtime blossoms. With this current drought, I'd end up with ore dead trees if I tried to plant one now.

CG

 

[ONSTAD1]

Hi,

I went with a "free standing" coop/run. No posts in the ground. It is made with 2x4's and the top and bottom are covered in 2x4 welded wire fencing rather than burying fencing into the ground. Sides are covered in 1/2" hardware cloth. It was pretty "stable" alone and is super stable attached to the coop with simple lbrackets. My run is only 4x8, this application may or may not work on a larger scale. made it in the yard and dropped it in place after 5 of the 6 sides were covered. Went together in an afternoon with just me working on it and was fairly inexpensive using all new materials and could be very cheap if using re-purposed lumber. Just food for thought. Here are a few pics. Have fun. sidenote: my door made out of 2x4s "twisted" a bit and while still functional, doesn't look so pretty...I'd do a little researsh on wood frame door making before i'd "design" a new door. good luck.


mo

 

[chickenbythesea]

Thank you for showing me your run, ChickenByTheSea. I bet your German shepherd dog has something to do with the lack of predators. LOL

I do envy your trees. Last year, I've had 4 die (two in the front yard and two in the backyard right next to the swing set so now the kids don't have a shady spot to play under). They weren't even the same kind of trees (like all Elm trees) so I don't know what could affect Maple, Oak and something with smaller leaves (didn't know what it was -the dead limbs in my last photo is leftovers from it). Hubby wants to have a Red Bud so we'll try to replace with at least one of those. I want to try growing an apple tree, pear tree or cherry tree for the pretty springtime blossoms. With this current drought, I'd end up with ore dead trees if I tried to plant one now.

CG

yes, I definitely think having 2 german shepherds spreading their scent definitely helps with the predators. The one in the photo loves to run around the coop and bark at the birds... silly birds like to squawk right back at her... they have no fear. We too are increasing out fruit trees, we had a cherry but it died off for no reason. We have since planted apple trees, high bush blueberry, raspberries, currents, grapes and rhubarb. We are trying to be as sustainable as we can. As for drought... I totally understand. We are supposed to get rain here today and we're all hoping it will be a good dousing but it's still sunny out. I hope you guys get some rain soon too.

 

[CGinJCMO]

Onstad1,

I'm leaning towards what you did, with 18-24 inches of wire along the bottom to help prevent diggers. That combined with the electric fence (wire 6 inches above ground and another around the top depending upon how much wire we've got) will keep predators away. I've been lucky so far that I haven't seen anything yet.

Now to get hubby on the same page...he's talking about trying to dig some holes this weekend. LOL We shall see.

CG

 

[CGinJCMO]

This is a link to a PDF that I printed off that I think I'd like for the bantams I couldn't attach the PDF saved on my computer but I can post the link where I downloaded it from.

http://www.plamondon.com/hoop-coop.html

Google search results that might be of interest
We are going to have to figure something out soon because the standard chickens are getting on top of the 4 ft fence and into the neighbor's yard. Currently, have only 2 free range bantams since trading the 2 cochin roos for more bantam chicks (hope we don't have too many boys in this set-last set had 75% roos and I hope we don't get that again with the 6 new chicks)

CG

 

[cluck-cluck]

I'm going to be putting 1/2" galv. hardware cloth around a 3/4" PVC pipe structure (4' wide, 10' lengths making an arch, again as another poster said, with a ridge piece down the top) and instead of making an apron, I'm going to enclose the bottom of it with the same hardware cloth. In the end, it's not much more material (depending on how wide you wanted to make an apron) and it creates an impenetrable space for the chickens. We have snakes, rats, mice, opossums, hawks, owls and coyotes as well as mountain lions! The last two don’t get into our backyard (at least not so far) but all the other hazards are real.

The real negative for this idea is that the chickens will not really be able to scratch at the ground the way I’d like them to. But they will be able to poke at it a bit?? It’s too bad, but I’d rather have them safe

I'll try to find some examples to post for you

Here is one:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/692669/building-a-hoop-coop-first-a-pallet-coop-next

See it doesn't matter how well it hugs the ground if the whole bottom is protected with HW cloth.

And this is where I got the idea:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-eggyolk-chicken-tractor-and-pics-of-my-birds

Here is a thread with opinions on enclosing the bottom, some like the idea, some don't. Note that I do plan on using #19 galv. hardware cloth, which I think will last a long time, but then it doesn't rain all that much here. Yes raccoons can eat through chicken wire, but I don't think rats or raccoons can eat through #19 wire, but I could be wrong!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697480/enclosed-coop-to-prevent-feeding-rats

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: You'd have to spend a FORTUNE to build a solar electrical system capable of running any type of heat, or even strong lights

 

[CGinJCMO]

Quote:

You'd have to spend a FORTUNE to build a solar electrical system capable of running any type of heat, or even strong lights

Is this for me?
I want just enough heat to keep my water from freezing...maybe that tape that wraps around pipes to keep pipes from freezing so the hoses don't get clogged with ice.

I don't want a lot of heat in the coop, 35 deg. is the max. winter temp. I'd want (because it's just above freezing for the water) because i don't want chickens that can't handle the outside winter (last year was mild, the year before I had my first blizzard so it's hard to predict day to day what to expect).

CG

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: That means you'll need a couple of large Deep Cycle batteries, solar panels, a charge controller, and an inverter, at a cost of several hunderd dollars JUST for the batteries alone