Fence Me In

As I awaited a root canal at the dentist recently in the city, I was asked "what would you be doing on a sunny day like today if you weren't here?" I laughed nervously and decided to answer honestly "I would be putting up fences and a gate for my meat chickens, weeding the garden and sexing rabbits". Much to my surprise she did not look at me like I was speaking in tongues, but instead this prompted a whole discussion on chickens.

My partner had the great idea to fence a corner of our lot and move an existing coop there in the small forested area, under the birch trees, in an unused portion of the yard. They would be let out into the bigger yard to free range  but this would act as their coop area and supply many bugs and plants to munch.

I begrudgingly removed my hammock from the area and the family stood looking on, brainstorming ideas about where to situate the gate, the fence and the coop. As we already had a main metal farm fence running the edge of the property it was decided we would simply add on to it to make an enclosure and then add deer fencing lining the metal fence to keep the small chicks from going right through the squares in the farm fence. It would also limit how many wild creatures came in, though we are aware if they really want to, they will find a way in. We will continue to close the chicken's door at dusk after they have found their way back in for the night.

Putting up fences is a two person job. Unrolling the big roll of metal farm fence is a bit what I imagine wrestling alligators must be like. There is no way around that and it has been frustrating trying to coordinate our schedules to take on the task. First situate the fence so that the biggest squares are at the top because you want the smaller ones near the bottom to make is less likely for the chickens to slip through. We managed to do this except in the very last area, but decided after swearing at it for awhile, that the deer fence we would add would make up for where our  fencing was lacking. It was a mistake and in only a small area so we decided to live with it rather than undo what we had done.

We were covered in little scratches from the wire, Black Fly bites and sweat, but we had finished the limited task of fencing the area. Next we discussed gates, put one in and then decided to add a second one closer to the coop to allow us to feed  and water the chickens more easily. We looked and my husband said "no I am not digging another fence post". That is because when we fenced along our driveway we had to dig 17 holes that were supposed to be 4 feet deep because we live in a frost prone area and that would locate them below heave level. Well, every time we got to about 2 and a half feet we hit a giant boulder. By that I mean sometimes 3 feet around. I am so jealous when I read about people simply digging holes or garden beds in actual dirt, not boulders. So most of our posts are shallow but they have been fine for two years so I guess they work. 

I convinced my husband to dig one post hole as I nursed my sore tooth and  gathered up gate options. He often brings home wooden shipping crates from work which we have used for coops and doors in the past. He wanted to buy lumber and build a nice gate. He is a wonderful carpenter but I was bent on not spending money on this operation. So far we had used leftover fence and supplies. I settled on repairing an old shipping crate-gate which worked and only needed new hinges.

Farm fencing is sold by the role at feed stores.  It is about five feet tall and our role started at seventy five feet in length. It is lightweight and you can use metal "L" shaped posts, wooden posts or trees if you are careful. We fastened our to trees, using steel fence staples.

When the metal farm fence was up, I proceeded to line the entire thing with deer fencing which is a plastic mesh netting and terrible to work with, especially alone. I recommend a very grumpy child to hold the mesh fencing while you do the work. It tangles and sometimes rips but once in place, stapled to the posts and trees and then tied on to the metal fence,  is sturdy enough. I then buried the bottom of it with rocks and soil to keep anything getting in or out easily.

I used an old kitchen cabinet door and it's hinges for the chicken door. I plan to shingle the roof and paint the coop. I would love to ceder shingle the whole thing but that is not in the budget.

If you look closely you can see the deer fencing overlaying the metal farm fence