Ideas for Chain Link Enclosures

[crystal1957]

I'm liking your picture alot!!! Thanks for the help.

 

[crystal1957]

And I'm thinking the Visqueen is the big rolls of plastic, like for windows--that you can buy in the hardware/paint section of many stores like Walmart? I have some that is 6 mil...am I on the right page with what you use? It is some awsome stuff, comes in black and a heavy opaque/clear??

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Wow, chicks4kids, i love your set-up. i use the 6 mil rolls of heavy opaque plastic on my pens every winter. It helps a LOT to keep our chain link pens warm. i use cable ties at various points on the plastic and the bottom to connect it to the chain like so the wind doesn't whip the plastic around, but i love the idea of using long boards to secure it.

 

[patandchickens]

Rope works well too -- actually I use some of the bazillion miles of heavy-duty baler twine that comes off the 600-lb big square bales I get my hay in. Just lace it back and forth and back and forth across the tarp/plastic, holding the tarp/plastic more firmly against the run fence and preventing it flapping much. Works good for me.

Pat

 

[chicks4kids]

Thanks--Yeah, I get my visqueen at Lowe's and mine is the 6 mil thickness too I believe. I have rope criss crossed across the top of the run as well and feel that it works really well, but I'm concerned about how it will wear over the course of the winter. I think that in the spring I will probably replace it but with something lighter than a 2x4. I have a partial piece of a privacy fence that I may just use those boards to secure the "roof" with. I used to have the entire roof covered with the green tarp, (it's wonderful in the summer) but I really like the visqueen over the top of half of it. It really is letting alot of light in.

 

[crystal1957]

Our biggest predators are dogs coming in from the woods--they actually will dig under the chain link... despite the electric pulsating fence...but luckily it hasn't happened since July when I lost many birds and many were maimed that required lots of doctoring.

But what I am leading up to is this--because of this, the free range time periods have to be supervised so there are lots of hours where everyone is in their respective chain link areas...concerned about the LIGHT (sunlight and light in general) getting through, so that they have enough light for egg production. Should I hang a 40 watt bulb with a timer? There will be some days when I won't be home until dark--and they can't free range... though I try and give them some time each day...

Should I put the plastic around the chain link fences, maybe 3/4 of the way to the ground, so some light gets in at the bottom --though if the wind blows there may be some rain getting in around the bottom, all around the fencing...

Want my birds to be comfortable!!

 

[chicks4kids]

I have a light set up to a timer that comes on at 6 am and goes off at 6 pm. Before I had this, the egg production dropped for me regardless of all of the light coming in through the visqueen. Around here, it was getting light at 8 and dark at 5:30--definitely not enough daylight for the girls.

As far as the dogs digging under the fence, how much linear fence are you talking? What I did was put that fencing that was real narrow and got gradually larger as it went up (can't remember the name of it) around the outside of my chain link, secured it to the fence and lined it with boulders. Of course my predator proof run (not their daytime fenced in area) is only 12x24 roughly. So it wasn't very expensive to do that. With a larger area, I bet you could go with something cheaper like chicken wire, doubled over, and use that perhaps.

The visqueen is used to provide a wind block. If you only put it 3/4 of the way down, then they'll have wind blowing in no matter where they are in the run. If you don't want to close the entire thing in, then just leave one side (the side less likely to receive wind) open. They need to be able to get out of the wind if necessary and this is a good way to still give them space in the winter and block the wind especially if you're not sure they'll go in at night.

 

[crystal1957]

Right...I will have to use a light with a timer I think. We aren't getting more than 9 or 10 hours of sunlight here tops... Would a 40 watt bulb suffice or would you go higher?

 

[rancher hicks]

Since you live in Florida and may not need to keep your birds covered all the time would be to make "curtains" out of tarps that you can roll up or let down as needed. Tarps have grommet hole but you could easily add more if you need to. Just go to any fabric store and they're sure to sell them and the tools necessary to put them on..

I do wish they sold a clear type tarp so I wouldn't have to staple plastic up every winter. What a pain.

Rancher

 

[chicks4kids]

I use a 75 watt bulb, but my coop is 12x16 so I like the whole thing lit up--but that's just me. I don't know if a 40 watt bulb would be enough or not.