If I were to put up a chain link fence, within my horse fencing, would that be safe for chickens? Come in at night and be out during the day? I want to let them run around the paddock - obviously I don't use it - but am going to put up board and wire in the front yard for another paddock, so I can use the current paddock as a garden and chicken area......
chainlink?
It has kept mine in. There are predators that can go over or under. But generally it should work well.
It will keep the chickens in and should be safe as long as you put them up at night.
I have a chainlink run I use all day long. My chickens are very happy. Mine fly like the wind though so we had to put chicken wire over the top to keep them in. hehehe It works well. I do put them away in their coop at night so nothing is even tempted to get them. Best wishes Jenks!
The bottom of the chainlink can often be pretty loose and dogs and other varmints can push/dig under it. A tension cable through the bottom squares or bottom poles like is done on top can help prevent that. So can a hot wire at 6" from the ground around the outside.
At least nothing will chew through it, like happens with chicken wire. =o(
Are you going to try the chicken moat?
What's a chicken moat?
I'd thought about linking chicken wire on the bottom too and staking it down? But I can do the tension wire.... New idea now. Use the chain link (have enough for about 40x40 as a dog yard for the Chihuahua and use her little 8'x 6'x6' dog kennel? It's got bars on the bottom and top, I could make it mobile, AND I could put chicken wire on top to keep the flying predators out?
40 x 40... gosh, if the grass got too high, it'd be like a safari for that little dog. =0) Staking the bottom would work too, if the stakes were close enough.
A chicken moat is a 3-4 foot wide chicken run all the way around a garden. Bugs have to cross the moat (bwaaaa-ha-ha) to get to the tasty veggies... and the chickens get fresh, on the leg protein.
We used to have a duck "moat" when we lived in the Pacific Northwest. The slugs never had a chance!
Leslie
OH! My my my.... let me think....... Now I'm dreaming of a 40x 40 or 20 x 60 (?) garden with a chicken wire paddock around it! LOL
There you go! You could have chicken races on the 4th of July! LOL
On yer marks, get set.... SQUAWK!
Now there's a likely home business...what are the laws on gambling down your way, Jenks? "Chicken Racing" shouldn't be on the books yet...
My 10 year old daughter just told me that I'd do better with 40x40 because I'd have more space for the garden. .... Is that right? or is she just multiplying them? Going to look up square footage..
Moodene could stitch up the racing silks...
!?! 'Splain yourself, Lucy?
Are we still talkin' chicken moat or the virtues of not doing one?
She's talking about the garden in the middle part. It's the same right? no matter what shape, it's the same size middle? She's got me spinnin' with a comment as she came by to see what I was doing. I am no math whiz.
Additional uses for a chicken moat... summer entertainment.
We could all wrangle over after the Last Great Chicken Drive for a leetle chicken racing 'round the moat.
Howzabout....incorporating the dog kennel thing to give you 40x46? Or bigger with a door to get in. So the garden would be 37x43?
Can't picture the horse setup here...
40 x 40 = 1600 sq. ft
20 x 60 = 1200 sq. ft
So strictly speaking, square gives you more square feet, but sometimes layout works better in other shapes, so square footage is not the only consideration.
Edited for stupid math errors %o)
This message was edited Feb 22, 2009 5:18 PM
Ok. I think it would have to be where the total length of available chain link (or chain link plus 1 side of dog set up plus door) is what the outside measurements have to equal. Then for a 3ft wide run, subtract 3 ft for length and width to get garden size. So if you have 172 feet total then that's 43x43 or 40x46 (I'm adding the dog run and a gate and a foot for good measure and posts) so a garden of 40x40 or 37x43
If she's got 160ft of fencing...it should be 20x80...we're talking about the area her fencing will cover right?
'course Jay, we're probably better off singing...
unh-uh. 4 sides, silly. 80' long would be about one inch wide. LOL
If you do 20 feet wide, then subtract 2 x 20' = 40' from 160' equals 120' divided by two ('cause you need 2 sides) and you get 60'. 20' x 60' comes out to 1200 sq. feet inside.
Same goes for chicken moat... gotta double it... not minus 3', but minus 6' so...
20' - 6' = 14' wide
60' - 6' = 54' long so the garden would be 14' x 54' = 756 sq. ft. of garden (messed up my math above; I'll go fix it)
If you did 40' x 40', your garden would be 34' x 34' = 1,156 sq ft of garden.
OOooooo, supercalifragilisticexpialidoshous....
My head is spinging!!!!!
Dang. Y'know I did that right in my head...ummm. All the doubling and undoubling. If I could just believe that one loop of fence would contain less because of the shape...sigh. Japanese is waay easier than this...ummmdiddle-iddle-iddle, ummdiddle-aye....
Woo.
Can't use the kennel in combo as it's 2 feet taller and has poles on top and bottom.
I am estimating the chain link - my neighbor is having her pool filled in and is giving me the chain link from around it. I don't think that only 4 feet high will keep my dane in for a second, so I thought "chicken yard"!
Tomorrow I pick it up. Next weekend, the DH is going on a fishing trip, so I will be so gratefully doing this without his input..... I have a cute little playhouse too that I've always thought about converting....but that would put the chicken yard out into the main yard and out of the paddock.
Playhouse/possible chicken coop
so if you compress the sides of a round container it will hold less...
Once I was afraid to speak when I was just a lass....
Super cute, Jenks!! I really like it.
Ona gishei mastah...
If you say it LOUD enough you'll always sound precocious...
Then, if I do it in the barn, which is nearly finished (see it originally in the background) has a TON of space and it's not dig proof, but the chickens in the barn would need to be caged decently. It's painted now and these are old, but I haven't taken new pics of the barn.
That is utterly adorable! You need to get Rhode Island Reds or Buckeyes to really set off the color. =0)
As far as round containers... yeah, squeeze a beer can and waste a natural resource. Crime, that. LOL
Now the question is... if you made your garden round as opposed to square, would there be even more square footage?
I have no freaking idea, it's been 30 years since I did that sort of math.
HA! Grow - your container visio helped me immensely! And I am mathematically declined and inoperable!
Ack, no! I didn't mean the barn is adorable. I meant the playhouse. Cross-posted!
But could you do the chicken moat from the barn?
Well, I've slathered my mathematical inability all over your thread, so I guess I'm glad. LOL.
I can do the moat in the barn's paddock.
Now there's an idea. Place the playhouse by the garden, fence along side as big as you can make it. Next year trade garden space for chicken space -the perfect little fertilizer kingdom...
It's a really good idea. My birds keep the barn clean. ( I wasn't going to tell you this, but...
With the moat, at the end of the year you can let the chickens in to glean and fertilize...
You're embarrassed about your chickens in the barn? No comprende, amiga.
?! I was having so much fun talking about irrelevant stuff I didn't want to say what a good idea it was to moat the paddock.
What about where I compost manure? Can they cleanse it? Or would it halt the composting? All I can see now is a fly-reducing pet that has 2 jobs, pet and larva eater....Now I want to chicken proof the pasture...
Oh yeah, they can definitely de-fly the manure. You may have to remound it from time to time, though. They can be very vigorous tillers. =0)
And for the pasture.... that's what chicken tractors are for! Google hoop coops for some quick versions.
My question would the chain link be used as some sort of protection for them at night. My biggest fear is them slithery things that dont have any legs. Mom got bit by one last year and thank goodness is was just a black snake.