Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The chook tunnel

A few weeks ago we were faced with a problem. The chooks were to be given a rest from their scratching, weeding and fertilising in the vegetable garden so that I could grow veggies, however, I did not want them in the orchard to make a mess of my mulch just before Summer (they will be allowed in the orchard in Autumn to clean up fallen fruit, fertilise & eat slugs). Finding a place for them to spend these 3 months was not the problem. A rectangle between the side fence, orchard fence and garden shed only needed a couple of temporary fences to be pretty much perfect...shade, grass & dust baths aplenty plus I can talk to them while in my shed. The problem was how to get them between their fox-proof chicken house with its roosts & nesting boxes and their outdoor play space...Enter the chook tunnel.

 





It's safe to say they are pretty happy with the new arrangement. They cluck their way down the tunnel each morning & back again each night, plus back & forth to lay their eggs during the day and when they just feel like having a bit of a stroll. The amusement value to the watching humans is pretty high, especially when a handful of seeds is thrown in the yard and any chook up near the house runs full pelt down the tunnel to not miss out.

Problem solved!

3 comments:

  1. How did you make it? I get the chook wire, but what about nailing it all down?

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    1. I just used the U shaped pegs you can get from hardware to hold down watering system pipes. it worked well - chook tunnel has just finished its second year!

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