I needed to separate my 4 leghorns from the rest of the flock due to issues they’ve been causing for many weeks. I was fortunate to pick up a large free prefab coop with attached run several weeks ago. I decided to make this coop the leghorns’ new home. They will no longer mix with the rest of the flock. Although the coop and run are technically large enough for the 4 leghorns I wanted to provide them with more room and more ability to forage on the ground.
I had read about chunnels here on BYC. It seemed to me that a Chunnel would be just the thing I needed.
Here are some photos. We talked about the design for a few hours, came up with a variety of potential solutions for another hour or 2 and then fabricated it in another 1 1/2 hours or so. We used stuff we had on hand.
The photo below shows that we used a plastic crate stood on end to make the entry point from the coop to the top of the ladder. We cut a hole in the side against the coop wire (and in the coop wall as well) and the hole that leads to the entrance of the chunnel ladder. The ladder is a plastic coated closet shelving length.
The photo below show the length of the run. It’s a roll of 1/2” hardware cloth bent in half width wise. We used those plastic push in posts from TSC- I had bought a bunch when they were on sale a few months ago. We used them to hold down the edges of the Chunnel.
Photo below shows that the leghorns had no issues immediately using the Chunnel. We did temp them thru the hole in the coop wall with mealworms. The other hens were very curious and came to check it out.
I will be using feed bags tomorrow to make a sun cover for a large section of the Chunnel. I am also going to put in a few pieces of grass sod so the leghorns have greens.
I expect to make modifications over the next few weeks as I get more understanding of how the Chunnel works and what the leghorns need to be healthy and sorta happy. What would make them really happy is to resume their reign of terror over the other hens - lol! But for a first go and for how fast and easy it was I’m really pleased!
I had read about chunnels here on BYC. It seemed to me that a Chunnel would be just the thing I needed.
Here are some photos. We talked about the design for a few hours, came up with a variety of potential solutions for another hour or 2 and then fabricated it in another 1 1/2 hours or so. We used stuff we had on hand.
The photo below shows that we used a plastic crate stood on end to make the entry point from the coop to the top of the ladder. We cut a hole in the side against the coop wire (and in the coop wall as well) and the hole that leads to the entrance of the chunnel ladder. The ladder is a plastic coated closet shelving length.
The photo below show the length of the run. It’s a roll of 1/2” hardware cloth bent in half width wise. We used those plastic push in posts from TSC- I had bought a bunch when they were on sale a few months ago. We used them to hold down the edges of the Chunnel.
Photo below shows that the leghorns had no issues immediately using the Chunnel. We did temp them thru the hole in the coop wall with mealworms. The other hens were very curious and came to check it out.
I will be using feed bags tomorrow to make a sun cover for a large section of the Chunnel. I am also going to put in a few pieces of grass sod so the leghorns have greens.
I expect to make modifications over the next few weeks as I get more understanding of how the Chunnel works and what the leghorns need to be healthy and sorta happy. What would make them really happy is to resume their reign of terror over the other hens - lol! But for a first go and for how fast and easy it was I’m really pleased!
