Fencing Ideas for Rocky, Uneven terrain

[CGinJCMO]

I've tried to find ideas in the forum but no luck. (I see ideas but not sure how well they'll work.)

I need to build a fence. I work at a school, so right now during summer vacation, my chickens are free-ranging the back yard but when Aug. comes I can't leave them in the coop all day until I get home (too hot and I'll end up with dead chickens). I'm looking for easy as well as inexpensive. (I know, I just want the world.)

I have rocky "soil"...I am lucky to dig down 3 inches before I hit rock. I can't plant anything deep enough to grow so I'm sure it'll be next to impossible to dig holes for posts. (However, farmers in my area must have been able to do something to get those metal post in.) I am trying to keep costs down (ha, that didn't work very well for the coop building) so I can't hire someone with a machine to come dig for me. At least I found out that I don't have to dig a trench to lay fence wire in to deter digging predators (just lay across the ground), because I'll give up before I get 6 feet. LOL

I also have the coop on a sloping hill with dips and pits that get the lawnmower stuck (that'll be nice for dust bath bowls but for timber laying along the ground to be the base of the fence I think that will allow easy access for critters). Plus I may have to dig a trench for wire to fill in some of those pits unless you think the wire across the ground will be good enough.

Someday, before winter comes along, we hope to buy a solar charger to help heat the coop & waterer but I don't know about the possibility of using it for an electric fence (plus I have kids that I'm not sure how well to trust not to push each other onto the wire).

Anyway, what would you do? I'd like to build a big run (20'x60') so if they get no free range time until the weekend, they still had plenty of room (15 birds). Should I just build a small run attached to the coop (trying to get it as close to shade as I can) and build bigger next year? What style of fencing should I do: metal post or wooden post? with or without wood along the ground? I welcome all ideas and hopefully we can get a consensus on "The Best" idea.

Thanks in advance for all the help,
CG

 

[canesisters]

Without pictures it's hard to picture exactly what your situation is. But I'm in sort of the same thing and here's what I'm planning.

Half of my run will be through a 'grove' of pine trees and I have to deal with the big dips where trees used to be and the rise around the base of the existing trees.

Also, the ground is nothing but roots and vines for about 5" down so digging is really difficult. What I'm planning (note - haven't actually DONE yet) is to run fencing (2"x3" spaces) around on a combination of wooden and metal posts. I dug one of the post holes this past weekend as part of getting a temp outside run up and it took almost 1/2 hour to get past the roots and then through the dry rock-hard clay. I figure wooden posts in the corners (corner post and first post on each side with bracing to keep it all from leaning) and metal 't-posts' in between. Do you have a t-post driver? Makes getting them in the ground MUCH easier. Anyway, once the posts are in the ground and the fencing is run level around the top - I'll add an apron of the same fencing around the bottom to lay across the ground. I plan to bend the apron in an L shape so that it extends up the vertical fence about 12"-18" - which will , I hope, give me enough wiggle room to fill in any of the spaces along the bottom. I'm also going to add electric wire around the bottom and the top since I can't enclose the top of the pen. I wouldn't worry too much about the kids and the wire. First off, a 'pet' containment charger is generally not even as bad as a bee sting sort of zap. It works by surprise more than physical pain. And second, once they've been zapped once - they'll develop the ability to levitate if necessary to avoid touching the wire no matter how hard they were pushed, shoved, or leaned on. Besides - the first one to 'fall' against your brand new run fence is going to be grounded for so long the others won't go anywhere near it.

 

[pdcttc]

I dont know if this will help you or not. I live in the mountians of N.C. ,VERY rocky.
What I did was make a hoop run with electricans pvc pipe and welded wire. It does not cost much and by putting a ridge pole in the middle, it is very strong.

I pounded 1/2 in rebar into the ground leaving about 1 foot sticking up. 2 10ft pieces of the pipe would make it about 11 ft wide, and still leave room to stand up inside. You can make it as long as you want--just have to put braces in for the ridge pole.

I left a 2 foot apron on the outside to guard against diggers, then covered it with about 1in of topsoil. I would have planted grass seed but it is in the woods, and it would not grow.

It works for me--- may not work for you.

 

[wherry]

Wow - timely subject. Was planning on building a portable pvc run temporarily (and to use for moving the chickens around the yard) til I could get something more permanent near the coop. That was until I saw how flimsy the pvc was. All I could picture was getting it all together and watching my 3 & 5 year old destroy it trying to be the 1st one to see the chicks in the run! I have been researching for awhile and this problem - rocks, tree roots and uneven soil is the reason I was looking into a portable run as a start. But, I have seen nice plans for many things but they would not work here in NH - we are not the granite state for nothing. Plus, I need winter storm strength, child-proof, extreme predator proof (coyotes, fox, hawks, beavers, raccoons, etc.) all to keep a few chickens safe enough to lay us some eggs. We don't even live up in the mountains - just over the border from MA! It took me 2 1/2 weeks to clear a spot 10 x 10 and level it enough to put in a coop which we bought as a kit because there was no way a forklift was going to be able to get to the area. I have talked to another local chicken farmer who suggested the apron technique (phew) rather than digging down (ha!) so...
Thanks and I'll keep checking back.

 

[Jaxon4141]

I use a portable system that will work on uneven ground if it's not too uneven. It's made out of 12 gauge fencing. Only a few materials besides the fencing are needed and a few tools are needed for cutting and bending. I make them units for use in my garden, sizing them as suits my needs. My garden is on a slope so nothing ever set flat here.



They have 14" predator guards along the outside and have a similar but longer two section piece on the ends.
Picture below is seven sections between two coops.


They withstand high winds and are well suited for setting where there are a lot of raccoons or other medium size predators. Feeding and water section are shown on my home page.

 

[CGinJCMO]

I'm trying to show the terrain... You can see the professionally installed chain link fence on the property line between us and the neighbor but I don't have $1000 or more dollars to do that. I only make 1200 per month.




It's not easy to show the bumpiness. The Extra Large Kitty Litter pan is in a miniature ravine...It's a dip that goes across most of my back yard and it's going thru where the fence will need to go.
It's just one example of my back yard.
Jaxon, I might have to try this one, it doesn't look dependent upon the 2x4s on the ground. I had seen something similar It was a chicken tractor. I printed off the PDF but I apparently don't have permission to attach it.
dcttc, if you have any photos of the fence, that would help me - I'm a visual learner.

Except for along the fence line, I don't have any trees to speak of so the roots aren't really a problem. I just live on top of a rocky hill. (The highway is right behind my property and you can see the rocks they cut thru to make the highway.) I think my boys would intentionally push each other onto an electric fence, they are just mean enough to each other. I've been shocked by one several times...once by one to keep cats from going under a house, and once by a horse crowding me. I guess it's been more than 25 years since my last shock so I'm due for another one.

CG

 

[HEChicken]

Feeding and water section are shown on my home page.

I'd be interested to see this but can't figure out where it is. I went to your profile but didn't see anything obvious. Can you put a link to your page in the "My Coop" section of your profile perhaps?

 

[CGinJCMO]

Well, I found on Craigslist the electric fence charger and some line, now to figure out the actual fence posts and fencing.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[SunnyAlberta]

Could you use concrete footings for fence posts, just like you've done for the legs on your coop?

 

[CGinJCMO]

I'll run the concrete footings idea by my hubby and see what he thinks. Of course, the first thing he's going to say is about the $$$ no matter which option we look into.

Money is probably going to be the final deciding factor. I've decided that first we'll get a small run and then as we save money for it, I'll expand the run to the larger size that I want. I want a big one that will allow them to get to the trees for shade and still allow the grass to grow for them to hunt and eat. And I want a separate run for the bantams. I keep thinking about the style that Jaxon has for them (one reason is the fact that the top is closed so they can't fly out) since the littlest one of them (OEGB) most definately flies to the top of the coop's interior to roost farthest from my big girls (poor thing is at the bottom of the pecking order).

CG