Movable Run

[Jaxon4141]

Why not beef up your tractor so the fox can't get in. Maybe some fencing pieces on the ground around the exterior that you set your run on and something stronger than chicken wire on the run. I have foxes here and if you look for where a fox could get in you can prevent that from happening. Besides fox are very good at keeping rodent populations down. All predators will eats chickens, it easier to learn how to keep predators out than to try and catch or kill all of them.

 

[BigWilly]

I’ve been struggling with this one. I'm not interested in killing them. My dog may be a good solution. She put a good scare into the neighbors cat who was snooping around the coop last night.
Defiantly going to replace the chicken wire with some hardware cloth once I have extra founds.

 

[Jaxon4141]

I use my chickens as work animals in my garden. They live among a family of foxes, an opossum that live under a shed in my backyard, and the most amazing number of troops of raccoons you have ever seen. I would hate to loose any chickens, but if I do then I will have to go back to the drawing board and rethink my setup, not blame a predator for doing what is suppose to do. I want the animals that are here to stay here. When I mentioned putting down fencing horizontally, I was referring to something like picture below.

The tunnel pictured above has two predator guards on each side. Yours would go all the way around the run perimeter. This small width of fence can out fox most all digging animal, far better than any vertically buried fence. You would not have to attach it to you run, just set your run down of them. You have a very nice setup and with just a little beefing up you could relax and enjoy what's out there. Dogs are great protectors of the home range, only trouble is mine spend most of the day inside waiting for me to come home and the rest of the night indoors keeping me company.
Below is a pictures of working chickens

 

[BigWilly]

Thanks Jaxon. I love that set up. If I had more room, I would have went in this direction. I plan on having the chickens work their magic on my flower boxes once its time. I have about a dozen or so spread around the yard. The pic below was from early in the season. Rabbits like to invade when the plants are small so we use these cage lids until everything blooms. By that time a few bunnies won’t eat too much and I store the lids away. My plan is to place the chicken run over the boxes when the time comes.


I knew once I started building I would need to add bits and pieces. I needed to get it out in front of me so I could see how everything would work together. I'm pretty sure I could attach that fence to the bottom of the run without too many issues.
This weekend I might break down and get some hardware cloth to replace the chicken wire.
( I would suggest that anyone going in this direction go that route from the beginning just for peace of mind.)
If I add both the bottom fence, and the hardware cloth, do you think I could leave the birds in the run all night without worry?
The last resort would be to kill anything. If I knew it was a "cure all", it would have already been done, but in the end I don't think it will do much good long term. In the last week we have counted three fox and one brave cat...I’m sure there are plenty others we haven't seen.
Stella seems to be doing a good job so far...I think see actually enjoys her new friends.

 

[Stumpy]

I just wanted to mention something -- If the expense is causing you to hesitate about purchasing hardware cloth, I saved a lot of money by ordering online from Wayfair.com. The cost was half of what my local stores charge and it arrives within the week. (No affiliation, BTW).

I really like your coop and run. It looks great!

 

[BigWilly]

Thanks Stumpy! And thaks for the site. I'll check them out .

 

[Bangarang64]

What did you use to cut the corrugated plastic panels ?

 

[BigWilly]

What did you use to cut the corrugated plastic panels ?

Just a set of tin snips. Worked better than I expected. I placed the factory edge on the bottom so it was nice and straight.
I still need to cap the top with something...It's on the "to do" list.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I am absolutely smitten with your tractor wheel arrangements. I've been building this big tractor to tow behind a mini-van-coop and haven't been able to figure out what kind of wheels to use and how to avoid having a big gap under the bottom of the tractor. What you have devised would be perfect for me. Would you be so kind as to give detailed information on what kind of wheels you purchased (or repurposed) and a step-by-step or diagram of how you attached them so that they could lever into place when you move the tractor and fold out of the way when you want the tractor to sit. LOVE IT!

 

[Jaxon4141]

Thanks Jaxon. I love that set up. If I had more room, I would have went in this direction. I plan on having the chickens work their magic on my flower boxes once its time. I have about a dozen or so spread around the yard. The pic below was from early in the season. Rabbits like to invade when the plants are small so we use these cage lids until everything blooms. By that time a few bunnies won’t eat too much and I store the lids away. My plan is to place the chicken run over the boxes when the time comes.

I knew once I started building I would need to add bits and pieces. I needed to get it out in front of me so I could see how everything would work together. I'm pretty sure I could attach that fence to the bottom of the run without too many issues.
This weekend I might break down and get some hardware cloth to replace the chicken wire.
( I would suggest that anyone going in this direction go that route from the beginning just for peace of mind.)
If I add both the bottom fence, and the hardware cloth, do you think I could leave the birds in the run all night without worry?
The last resort would be to kill anything. If I knew it was a "cure all", it would have already been done, but in the end I don't think it will do much good long term. In the last week we have counted three fox and one brave cat...I’m sure there are plenty others we haven't seen.
Stella seems to be doing a good job so far...I think see actually enjoys her new friends.

I like your idea for you flower bed. Chicken are a great way to take an overgrown area and reduce it to dirt without taking any nutrients from the soil. All that's left to do is a little leaving and you are ready to plant.

Where do your chickens spend the night now? If they have a place to roost that is protected from small paws that would like to reach in at night, I don't see why they couldn't stay in the run. If you are going to make movable predator guards, I would use heavier fencing. Hardware cloth doesn't hold up as well when it is being walked on a lot. Any thing that is 17 gauge or bigger will work better for you. I use 12.5 gauge 2"x4" for mine. Anything small enough to fit through 2" is not much of a digger. Some rodent could dig under over time, but if you are always moving around that will never become a problem. Skirts have worked from many people on this forum. A fox will come to the edge of the run and that is where it will try and dig. If it can't dig there then it will move around the perimeter of the run looking for a place to dig under, it make no sense to them to move away from the run to dig. As for cats, once your chickens are bigger they won't be much of a threat, besides they have a great looking guardian watch over them. Does she stay with them at night?