Easy Homemade Chicken Run Door

Michael came up with an easy homemade chicken run door to solve our problem.

“What problem?” you ask. Goats.

Yes, they are often a problem. We just have to be smarter than them.

Let me explain the situation. In the upper pasture, we have the barn, chicken coop/run, and various other things. We have a door to the chicken coop/run that we like to leave open so the chickens can free range. The pasture is divided into three smaller pastures defined by electric fencing.

We rotate the goats through the pastures monthly for their health. Every third month they are in the pasture that is open to the chicken coop and the boys pen.

Certain goats (psst, it’s Halley Berry, Sandi, and Brown Sugar) like to go through that open door and eat the chicken feed. That’s not very good for them.

So, we racked our brains trying to think of a way to allow the chickens to come and go but keep the goats (and coyotes, raccoons, etc) out.

We toyed with the idea of putting a strand of electric fencing between the goats and the chicken coop/run. Then we remembered that a certain goat (goes by the initials: HB) won’t let a jolt of electricity stop her from getting to food she really wants.

We also had to take into consideration the predators that may try to get to the chickens. We have not lost a chicken yet and we would like to keep it that way.

Michael came up with a simple solution. He replaced part of the wire fencing with a section of cattle panel. The openings in cattle panels are large enough to let the chickens pass through.

The chickens will be able to get out and free range daily, but also be able to run into the protected area if they see a bird of prey flying overhead. I worry about the other predators especially raccoons  and opossums who could squeeze themselves through the openings and kill chickens.

Usually, the chickens return to their coop to roost about an hour before sunset. When we go out to do evening chores, we close up all the doors and windows to the coop and nothing can get in or out. I feel they will be safe because usually those vermin don’t show up until it is mostly dark.

Here is a chicken passing through the opening. She is one of the smarter ones. There are still some…..how shall I say it…..mentally challenged chickens that have not figured it out. I’m sure that within the week all will using their new doors with ease.

We still have the problem of the buck pen. At some point during their month in this section of pasture each goat will go into heat. Breeding through fencing is not impossible. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Thankfully we only have three goats that are not pregnant. Currently when they go into heat we lock them up.  Their heat only lasts about two days so it isn’t horrible for them to be confined. We still need to figure out a solution to the problem because we don’t want any unplanned pregnancies.

I don’t think this solution will be as simple. I’ll let you know what we come up with once we actually come up with something.

Enjoy the day,
Karen