No wire fencing required for chicken run?

[teddyjames]

Hope someone can help.

My backstory: I'm 67yrs old. Kinda desperate. I have always worked for myself and never had a "real" job. I have been poor all my life but it's not been too bad overall, even though I have no retirement, a money pit for a car, and don't own this trailer that my nephew lets us stay in for free. (Thanks Joe) I make ends meet on $550 per month with a little bit added in the form of government food assistance. We visit the local food banks but we get more black beans than anything. The occasional can of tuna or spam comes in real handy late in the month. Currently my family of four can not afford to eat the whole month. We resort to eating ramen the last week or so before my benefits come in. In order to try and not starve the last week of the month, we have decided to try and raise some chickens to help supplement our diet in the form of eggs and meat. We have some locals who will donate a some birds. I have some wood scrap that might be enough to make a coop. Problem is that wire fencing is so expensive! I'm afraid we are going to have to do something else.

Is there any way to give chickens room to peck and eat grass and stuff without using a wire fence? How did the pilgrims do it some 300 years ago without wire? We have to have something strong and covered because there are dogs, hawks and coyotes all around.

 

[AidKD]

You should be able to find pallets for free, you just have to look in the right places. Try building a fence out of old pallets to keep them in. As for a covering, you could take the slabs from the pallets and place them about a foot apart from each other so the hawks can't get in.

 

[nuthatched]

People Who owned chickens hundreds of years ago accepted their losses.
Pallets are generally free but it would have to be 2 high.
How are you planning to feed your birds?
A $17 bag of feed (not scratch) should last about a month for 8 hens- giving about 5 eggs a day, 140ish eggs a month
, considering that eggs are about $5 a dozen, that's slightly cheaper than the store.
And no, unless you have roving flocks of feral chickens in your area, you likely can't let them eat solely off the yard and not feed them and expect decent meat growth and egg production.
Cournitux Quail might be more what you're looking for, they mature faster, laying eggs in about 10 weeks instead of 22 for chickens. They hit butcher weight about then too.
They take less space, they stack, they're a bit quieter than chickens too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-quail-1.48549/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-every-part-of-your-quail.76213/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-process-your-quail-including-gory-pictures.75834/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/quail.32/
Welcome to byc, hope this helps. :]

 

[fat brown hen]

How did the pilgrims do it some 300 years ago without wire? We have to have something strong and covered because there are dogs, hawks and coyotes all around.

The pilgrims had guns. They were also avid fur trappers.

 

[teddyjames]

I was going to feed them of course. 10 total birds (1 rooster, 9 hens) I think 6 eggs a day would be in the ballpark. If I leave a nest egg in the nests, I should have 4-5 chickens to eat per year at 6 dollars per bird. Fresh eggs are better for you and better tasting and probably much healthier for a person so to compare the price of fresh eggs to store bought eggs is really comparing apples to oranges. We are looking to get more food with less money and I must admit I did little calculations on how many eggs per sack of grain I would be getting. Matter of fact I have no clue how much cracked corn is in my area yet. They say its best to grow a garden and raise your own food but its looking like its just cheaper to buy it at the store. Didn't used to be that way.

 

[teddyjames]

The pilgrims had guns. They were also avid fur trappers.

still don't make me understand how they kept chickens.

I understand they might shoot all the critters that might try to kill a bird.. they can't be on watch 24/7 I think they just had so many that it didn't matter if 20 got killed.. were 2000 more to take their place..

 

[AidKD]

I was going to feed them of course. 10 total birds (1 rooster, 9 hens) I think 6 eggs a day would be in the ballpark. If I leave a nest egg in the nests, I should have 4-5 chickens to eat per year at 6 dollars per bird. Fresh eggs are better for you and better tasting and probably much healthier for a person so to compare the price of fresh eggs to store bought eggs is really comparing apples to oranges. We are looking to get more food with less money and I must admit I did little calculations on how many eggs per sack of grain I would be getting. Matter of fact I have no clue how much cracked corn is in my area yet. They say its best to grow a garden and raise your own food but its looking like its just cheaper to buy it at the store. Didn't used to be that way.

I just have to say that in the long run, raising your own chickens for meat and eggs and having your own garden is gonna be cheaper in the long run. You can collect seeds from your first garden and never have to pay for seeds again, and hatching your own eggs from your own chickens is also gonna save you tons of money cause then you won't have to keep buying pullets. Also, I would go with something a little more than just cracked corn. Cracked corn by itself won't provide enough vitamins and nutrients for your hens to continue laying. But, it could work depending on what kind of foraging you'll have for them and if you're willing to mix some stuff into the corn.

 

[AidKD]

Could I see a picture of where you're thinking to keep them?

 

[fat brown hen]

still don't make me understand how they kept chickens.

I understand they might shoot all the critters that might try to kill a bird.. they can't be on watch 24/7 I think they just had so many that it didn't matter if 20 got killed.. were 2000 more to take their place..

Chickens roamed free among other livestock like goats and pigs. People were outdoors most of the day working the farm and tending the animals. Coyotes hadn't migrated east yet, but settlers were ruthless about eradicating predators like wolves and bears.

 

[GCrumb]

@teddyjames

Like people said, they free-ranged poultry. And might actually have set a child to watch the birds all day, like the goose-girl in fairy tales.

But the answer to your question of what'd they use instead of wire mesh, is: wattle.

It's woven willow-whips or branches. There are some medieval illustrations of hen-houses (cute little domes) of it, and fences surrounding them.