Building a Chicken Sled

Our selection of livestock at the ranch includes chickens. We currently have 15; 3 older hens and 12 young pullets. Now with the incorporation of our chicken sled, they are able to not only spend time in their coop, but also make the rounds in the yard, eating bugs and grass.

I enjoy chickens: feeding them table scraps and weeds from the gardens, watching them eat bugs, and I especially like eating their eggs. I, however, do not like the destruction they cause: scratching away my mulch, taking dust baths in my flower beds or leaving chicken bombs on the concrete or anywhere under-foot.

The solution is to keep the flock contained. Our chicken house is large but the outside pen is only moderate. They needed more room to roam, but couldn’t be trusted unattended.

This is where the construction of the chicken sled comes in.

Modern-day-miracles, like YouTube, assisted this young chicken farmer (Garrett). After studying the video and making a materials list, our family went shopping and began construction.

The structure was built from PVC pipe, glued together once arranged properly.

Zip ties were used to wrap the sled with chicken wire.

The wire covered door was added on top and a tarp was placed over a section to keep out light rain and excessive sunlight.

The sled is lightweight and easy to move around throughout the day, but sturdy enough to hold the chickens.

This addition to the ranch and our chicken operation has resulted in happy chickens and a much happier yard- caretaker: me!