I needed help keeping the neighbor’s grass from growing into my flower bed along the back fence. We had tried some of the black plastic edging that is buried a few inches into the ground, but it didn’t not really help. Also, the dog barrier metal fencing was a perfect trellis for bind weed, meaning the weed tangled in it beyond all patience.
My chickens have proven they can de-forest sections of landscape within a few days. Putting this together with the idea of chicken tunnels, I wondered if they might be the ultimate solution to my problem. My engineer husband asked that I give him time to think about it and came up with a weather proof tunnel system for me. Then, I helped him construct it. Obviously, amounts of material needed will vary with size and length of tunnels being made.
List of materials:
3 foot wide 14 gauge welded wire fencing
17 gauge 1/4 mi. ga electric fence (bendable) wire
tension wire for making u-stakes
1/2 inch electrical conduit pipe (for connecting tunnel and door frames)
3/4 inch electrical conduit pipe (for connection)
previously installed back fence, vinyl with field fencing attached.
List of tools:
homemade metal bender
cordless screwdriver
bolt cutters (for larger wire)
vice mounted on table (optional)
pliers
wire cutters (for smaller wire)
Here is my first youtube video, showing pretty well how this was all done:
Chickens are notorious for being escape artists, but they were wary of the new connector tunnel at first. It probably doesn’t help that I have to wiggle the fence some to get it to fit, but we will be leaving the coneector there, with a night time hatch door most of the time, so it should get more normal for them.
When they finally did spend some time in there, they had it chopped down and cleaned up in a couple of days. I wanted them in there again today, quickly for another photo op, and used some old popcorn to tempt them. They came along much faster this third time.
That is just about half of the back fence taken care of, but it is the most troublesome part. Now, I can relax a little with satisfaction; however, I am already thinking about the next part of my chicken tunnel system – with help from my engineer, of course.