Portable chicken run from scrap wood & wire

I was in a bit of a sulk this morning. My weekends – now that the weather is getting better – usually involve playing out in the garden, or at least cooking up treats in the kitchen but this weekend, I’m out all day, both days, at a youth theatre event with the group I help teach. The event should be fun but, you know, not playing in the garden or making sugar-packed goodies. So I was sulking about losing my play time – until I realised there was nothing stopping me playing out this afternoon instead. Even after five years of self-employment, I still feel naughty playing out during a workday – but as soon as I realised I could, I was up and running for the box of screws and our scrap wood supplies.

I find it funny that I get so excited about making things from wood these days because a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have thought I was capable of doing it. I’m quite a practical girl – I worked as a labourer one summer during uni and I’m happy to get my hands/clothes/face dirty with paint or mud or what-have-you – but I always thought that making things from wood was a Big Serious Skill that wasn’t for my sort. I don’t know why. Perhaps it was because we didn’t really do any big woodwork stuff at school – we did stuff on “resistant materials” (which included bits of woodwork as well as electronics and stuff with plastic/metal) and I remember making little bits of jewellery out of wood and plastic – but it was little things, nothing practical.

I think I started to get converted after we moved into this house just over a year ago – I wanted some airing shelves inside the boiler cupboard so I went over to the DIY shop across the road, bought some 38mm by 19mm lengths, and made them. I think I did a pretty good job – I made them easily removable in case we needed better access to the boiler and they’ve not fallen down yet. Then I decided I wanted a wellie stand for outside and after getting some advice from a friend who is handy with a saw & screws and a scramble around our scrap wood store, we had a shiny new wellie station in a couple of hours. And that’s when the addiction started. I’m not great at it by any means but every time I make something, I learn something new and have tons o’fun :)

Anyway, this afternoon’s project was a portable chicken run so I could let the chickens out of their main run more. I was inspired by Kate from Living the Frugal Life‘s poultry schooner – it would let me use the chickens to weed and de-slug the veg beds but wouldn’t need me watching over them the whole time (or chasing them around the woods when they got the taste of freedom). I wanted to do a hoophouse thing like Kate’s but didn’t have any material to make the hoops – so I ended up making a boring wood frame instead. At least it was all the boring wood was scrap so free though :)

I made the ends first and was a little surprised by how sturdy they were ;)

The sturdiness was beneficial as the only long lengths I could find were lighter than desirable – but with the sturdy end frames and some supporting struts in the middle, it still felt strong enough. So far, so good.

Then I went a’rummaging for some scrap chicken wire – left over from when John’s dad made the main chicken fort last spring – and my staple gun.

As always when I use my staple gun, I give a quick word of thanks to PastLouisa who thought to tape the staples to the side of the gun – I bought it in 1999, three house moves and two cities ago, there is no way I’d still have the staples if I hadn’t done that. Thanks PastLouisa.

It was pretty quick work – smoothing and stretching out the wire – but something gave me the impression that maybe I should be wearing gloves while cutting super pokey wire.

It was getting dark (and cold) by the time I finished stapling the last side so I didn’t have a chance to tidy it up – but it just needs a little more attention (securing loose, pokey bits, especially on the top where it’s doubled up) and then it’s ready to go.

It’s not as pretty – or anywhere near as big as Kate’s schooner – but it will fit into our awkwardly small beds as well as our longer narrow ones and will take two or three hens at a time. We’ll also be able to use it inside the main hen run if we need to keep any of them apart for whatever reason.

A hinged side would made it easier to get chickens in and out of it but it’ll do for now. We’ve got a portable hen run for free and I’ve learnt an important lesson about gloves ;)

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