Quick run set up ideas needed

[catsew]

I was just taking our future fencing and standing it up in a circle and letting the chicks play in there for a few hours during the day. Supervised of course. Well they are apparently still small enough to get through the fence, although I don't see how, but I don't want them stuck or getting hurt. They are going crazy in their cage this morning and I want to have them out later, but I have stuff to do and can't watch them constantly. Is there any way to do what I'm talking about with the fence, but make it so they won't try to escape through it?

 

[Judy]

Sounds like something I would do....

If they can get through, then a raccoon will be able to reach through later, and you will want the lower portion covered again with a wire with finer holes. I have a roll of 18" wide chicken wire with small holes that I paid $30 or $40 for, at the local Ace. I think it was a 100' roll. I've used it several times, once to keep the chicks in the broody pen inside the chicken coop.

 

[catsew]

I forgot about the chicken wire. I guess I could open that and put it inside the other fence. But its a huge roll, so I don't want it to get messed up before we actually use it. The hardware cloth is too hard to use for the very temporary set up I wanted to make.

 

[CupOJoe42]

If you don't have a lot of chickens, how about picking up a playpen from a consignment shop and turning it upside-down on the grass or put poultry netting over the top?

 

[eds500]

This is what I did. As long as they are supervised you should be fine. We have a neighborhood hawk that knows our chickens so we only use this if we're outside and close, such as cleaning the coop, run or refreshing water, etc. I use scratch to lure them back into the pen when I'm done. The setup ran me $50 and allows me to move it around to give them fresh areas in which to play. You can buy other colors of fencing online but I couldn't find any locally.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=504676

 

[catsew]

Thank you. You guys are so smart. We actually have both. Our "orange" fencing like that is actually green and around the garden at the moment, but its just hooked around the posts, so I could take it off and use it. And we actually have a playpen that our daughter has outgrown or at least is not using right now. We only have 2 chickens that would be going out, so I think I will do that for today.

 

[JP101010]

I have a chicken in quarantine that i like to let out for a few hours every day.. right now we have her in a playpen which works ok but nothing like kicking in the real dirt- so thank you so much for the awesome idea to flip the playpen upside down so that the chicken can be on the grass. Duh

why didnt i think of that?!

 

[catsew]

And just for fyi, not that anybody is accusing me of anything, but I will be outside working in the yard next to them, so they will be well supervised.

 

[MareeZoCool]

Quote:
An old wooden playpen wood be strong enough to fight the winds, but you'd need some1/4- 1/2" hardware cloth rather than chicken wire to keep your peeps in, and poachers out. Have the hardware cloth cover the entire the pen's rails, which will be on the grass. Get some zip- ties ~(The dollar stores sell bags of them)

 

[msbee]

I actually made a run out of scrap wood and chicken wire. It's super light and portable for the babes. We use netting over the top so they don't try to fly out.

I also added a lawn tent/gazebo for a covered run. It's all temporary until the city votes yea or nay on chickens for real. If yea, I will be installing a more permanent run.