RUN_PVC Stage 1 - Need Netting Recommendations

[walkswithdog]

For a feed and water cart you can go as simple as just a used wagon, old radio flyers run cheap if you drill out some holes in the bed and reseal it with paint and add some sand or gravel to set the buckets on it doesn't tip, adult chickens can get on to it to get to feed and water without ever putting the containers on the ground.

If you're hauling really big feeders, using the garden carts that are No-tip is smarter. Even they can be found used in some cases. And some aren't very expensive.

They also make small nursery carts that are flats, that would work. The ones for nurseries are also no-tip.

That's a great pen! I also ditto the heavier wire 4-5 feet up the sides. A racoon can go through netting in just under four seconds - I know my friend lost her cockatoos that way recently. They were in a meshed in patio sunroom. From first sound to dead toos was about 20 seconds.

Better safe than sorry with the lower wiring.

 

[dixygirl]

Night before last something tried to get into my pea pen. It is welded wire with chicken wired added on the bottom. The critter ripped the chicken wire and lifted it up. We found that and that's how we noticed it... But it was stopped in its tracks by the welded wire fencing though. The largest land predator we have here are small foxes.

My point is, if we had only a net or chicken wire on the sidewalls, our pea fowl would probably be dead today.
Forewarned is forearmed.

 

[jazzpurr]

Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone.

You know you start a project like this and there's a mess in the yard
for a few weeks and you wonder why you started it.

But it has come together and I am designing the cart in AutoCAD now.
It will take several weeks before I am ready to cut the first board.

Being a draftsman for 30+(cough cough) years I tend to tweak
a project to death in the CAD system rather than have a pile of scrap
lumber.

1. I know wire would be better than netting but one priority is
to be lightweight so my wife could drag it by herself, if necessary,
to a new location.
I don't have a problem with ground predators during the day. If you
do then wire may be absolutely necessary. I am on a fairly isolated
6 acre parcel and I have never seen a dog out here.
Plus we work from home so we are here all time.

2. The biggest effort I put in for caring for the chickens is the water.
I change it at least twice a day, including ice during this hot summer.
My water supply is about 100ft from the coop. With a move-able
run that distance will only increase.
I was think about how to put roosts in the PVC run, then taking the two
water buckets AND the food.
Then I thought about the nest boxes. I expect them to start laying
in about a month and I will also have to be dragging the 3 nesting boxes
to the run as well.
The cart will have to be balanced and sturdy and I am thinking of
stabilizing legs (like a backhoe) for uneven ground. It may have a
"Mousetrap"(remember the old board game?) look and feel but
if it does the job it will be a big timesaver.

3. I like the idea about a low voltage wire around the bottom 3 feet
just in case we are out during the day and I want to leave the Orps
in the run.
It would have to be solar powered - AND flexible so it doesn't
break during a move.
Anyone have practical experience with an actual purchase and
installation?

4. If you look at the pictures again you can see it is very easy to
build modules to increase of decrease the overall length. The PCV pipe
came in 10" lengths so I made 5' sections. It may have been more
stable (I mean less "boing") at 3' lengths but that is all the more labor
and joints to glue.

Thanks again and I will post the Cart as soon as it is finished.

 

[pvc coop]

Another PVC Run! That's a big one. Nice job. Show more pictures when finished.

 

[Jenski]

jazzpurr, I have seen a couple of larger portable chicken runs (and one dog kennel) that used small tractor or wagon wheels in sets of two, one mounted on either side of the fence/wall of the run with a small connecting piece between. Four sets of these wheels might give you mobility that dragging just wouldn't.

We have thought about this issue too, as my 5'4" self could not pick up a large tractor/run and move it around alone. You could also improvise some sort of foot-break for security, similar to what is used on wheelchairs/room service carts.

Just a thought. The structure is fabulous! Thanks for sharing. Now where is DH ~ I have a new project for him.

 

[dixygirl]

I can't wait to hear an update in a few months of your success or any losses using only a net and light weight tubes. This is very a very brave experiment.