Oregon

[OR4-hmom]

I threw together a grow up pen with the cattle panels, mine was an a-frame instead. I tackle all kinds of building so not a big deal. Words of advice, if putting smaller wire on the panels put it on the inside. Unless secured smaller birds can get themselves caught between the wire and the panels.

 

[Zanna]

Here's a similar idea for you guys

 

[OR4-hmom]

Here's a similar idea for you guys

NICE!

 

[Usagi]

Oh dear. I just realized that giving my chicks antibiotics will pretty much undo the whole organic eggs thing. That's the only reason I wanted to start raising chicken.
I guess in this situation I start from scratch?

 

[Usagi]

What a GREAT idea!!   Your speaking of doors from re-store gave ME an idea. Why couldn't I cut out the inside of a door and then put hardware cloth on it to use AS a screen door to my run??? I'm absolutely no good at making things from scratch...do you think that would work?

I'm sure it would. A staple gun seems like it would make the placement for the hardware cloth rather easy. As for predators though....are staples strong enough to discourage a persistent raccoon?

 

[iwiw60]

Good point...I'm using 9/16" staples (heavy-duty kind) so hopefully that will hold...it better!! There'll be a gazillion staples in that chicken run!!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'm sure it would. A staple gun seems like it would make the placement for the hardware cloth rather easy. As for predators though....are staples strong enough to discourage a persistent raccoon?

I use screws and washers. Alternatively, if your hammering skills are okay, those little hammer-in u-shaped double-sharpened nails. The guys who work here taught me a trick with bottle caps and finishing nails, where you use the bottle caps instead of washers ... except I don't drink stuff that comes in bottles ...

Trim on the edges of the hardware cloth is always a nice cuz that stuff snags anything that gets even kinda close to it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Here's a similar idea for you guys

Zanna's coops are spectacular. So much roomier than they look in these photos ... that pipe is really big.

There are a lot of great versions of hoop coops ...

 

[Farmer Viola]

Oh dear. I just realized that giving my chicks antibiotics will pretty much undo the whole organic eggs thing. That's the only reason I wanted to start raising chicken.
I guess in this situation I start from scratch?

If that is your goal, you should look into natural rearing methods. Organic garlic is a natural anti-biotic you might try first. I mince it using a "slap chop" type of device, unpeeled, and put it in their feed.

This book has been absolutely invaluable to me in natural chicken rearing:

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable Paperback
by Juliette de Baïracli Levy
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Herbal-Handbook-Farm-Stable/dp/0571161162/


Here is what Levy has to say about garlic:

"It is highly antiseptic. Russian scientists have acclaimed garlic as an internal purifier of the greatest importance and that 'garlic, onions and horseradish contain powerful anti-toxic elements essential for good health.' Throughout the history of mankind garlic is credited with great anti-plague powers. In the Great Plague of London, it was the principal remedy for protection and cure and fetched more than gold in price. In Yorkshire, England, I saved many thousands of hill sheep condemned as incurable, by using garlic. Gorillas often plant areas of garlic where they have their colonies. Because of its remarkable penetrative disinfectant and mucus-expellent powers, garlic is a valuable basic remedy for the treatment of all ailments in which the cleansing of the blood-stream and expulsion of mucus accumulations are required. It is supreme in the cure of all infections ailments of the blood-stream, lung and digestive areas. American scientists discovered that garlic contains a substance - crotonaldehyde - which is excellent for diseases of the nose, throat and intestine. "

more reading: http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-benefits-of-garlic-cayenne-and.html

 

[Blooie]

I threw together a grow up pen with the cattle panels, mine was an a-frame instead. I tackle all kinds of building so not a big deal. Words of advice, if putting smaller wire on the panels put it on the inside. Unless secured smaller birds can get themselves caught between the wire and the panels.

Hi, all. I'm Blooie, and I appreciate Leslie sharing our run with you and your comments. As she said, we covered the arch with chicken wire. We used a welded wire fence cut to size and shape on the ends. We have hardware cloth running up 2 feet right over top of the chicken wire and extending outward some distance from the run as an apron. First chance she got our dog tried unsuccessfully to dig her way in. One broken and bleeding toenail later she decided that wasn't such a good idea. The apron is solid, and as soon as we get back home from a family emergency we'll be covering the apron with dirt and huge flat red rocks we've been collecting for years. I mean these rocks are huge - it takes two of us to pick most of them up to move them. That solved the problem of covering the area where the cattle panels meet the ground.

Our wiring is all done on the outside of the run so that predators can't push their way in. The chicken wire is wired tightly to the cattle panels and is absolutely taut, and the hardware cloth is literally sewn onto the chicken wire and panels. I understand the concern about smaller birds getting caught between, but believe me that isn't at all likely to happen. I had trouble pulling the flat, empty tip of my glove out! In a pinch for shade, we ran landscape fabric over the top in two places and it has shaded it perfectly and repelled water during a recent rainstorm. All in all we are very happy with it. This is the completed run.