Yes, we still have this thing. It was a home for the ducks until G gave them more space to roam with some goat fencing. Afterwards, it was empty save for the occasional goat coming in to check things out (or sit on top as the case may be).
G did some fishing before it was chick ready. The door had come off somewhere along the way, so he reattached it.
The goats love rubbing against the chicken wire. Since chicken wire is meant to withstand chickens and not goats, it bent and broke in places. G fixed a few of those places with hardware cloth, but the goats managed to wreck a few more places in the interim.
The last step was putting logs around the bottom of the wire to hold the wire down and keep the chicks from sneaking under, something I didn't realize until it was too late.
We moved our half price TSC chicks out there now. They were pretty hesitant to explore; all stayed in the wooden box for a good long time.
Jip could sense new creatures near him and wouldn't stop barking. I got him to quiet down by spraying him with our homemade fly spray every time he barked (he doesn't like the smell, but it does keep flies away, so he has to put up with it). Eventually he learned.
One chick didn't make it in the box in her transition from the garage to trampoline. She immediately found the weak spot in the fence and slipped under (a place I hadn't put a log). From there she darted into the wood pile. Great.
I waited patiently and eventually I heard/found her and transferred her safely to the trampoline with her friends.
Then I triple checked the trampoline was chick tight. So far, so good! Although from a distance, it's hard to see the chicken wire, so I keep thinking the chicks are on the outside. 😅
The first chick ventures out:
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