8 years later this is still a great idea. I want to build this over the winter for our girls and our garden. If you have a child's 12 ft trampoline ready to retire, and wrap fence around it, you could attached it with a tunnel for an extra play area. Another hawk free zone.
Holy shit! What a pile of great ideas to consider for integrating chickens w/ our garden. Chicken tractors, chicken tubes, so many great ideas! I especially liked the attention to human traffic/chicken traffic and using greenery to cool & hold in moisture.
Thank you! I love this. I don't have a full moat but two sides of my organic vege garden is protected by my lovely hens. next phase will definitely be a moat....thank you again. J
This is SUCH a great idea! I sure wish I had seen this before constructing our new run. It just makes so much sense. The chickens are safe, the gardens stay bug free. I love the little underpass!
@@ambeegaming76 He also leads with the statement that it works against "any" insect and then goes deeper by specifically saying "grasshoppers" and "flying insects." While I'm sure it deters some flying insects, if you lived where I live, it would do practically nothing to stop the grasshoppers and various flying beetles. Also, there's two more things worth noting: 1) Good luck with slugs. Slugs come out at night, when the chickens are away and that fence will not deter them. 2) This "castle and moat" isn't the best idea for a chicken run. Those chickens will turn the moat area into dirt very quickly. There'll be no grasses, seeds and way less insects for them to forage. Then when it rains, it'll be a pit of mud. To me the idea seems great on the surface but if you really start to think about it, you'd see the practical shortcomings. I think a person would be better off, if they have significant insect issues, screening their garden with mesh fabric and using a mobile chicken tractor, if they really wanted to get their chickens out and about. But that's my advice and nobody has to take it.
I know how to deal with predators. The same concept as the chicken moat. You setup a 3rd fencing barrier that you use as a dog and goat run. The dogs chase off predators and the goats keep the vegetation clear so the dogs can see the predators more easily.
I wonder how this design is holding up after eight years. Have you made improvements or perhaps extended your garden and chicken run? An updated video on this would be nice to see and help us out on our builds here at home.
Unless your hens are on in years, you should be getting eggs every day (1 each day per hen) as long as you're feeding them enough calcium & protein -- not just "a few from time to time". I've seen a sort of "chicken moat" idea before, but nothing this elaborate -- and, quite frankly, beautiful! I'm going to try to implement something like this. (Assuming I can find/afford the building materials at this point in the decline of our civilization, of course!)
What a great idea! Can be done much cheaper by making parts of the run just a netting tunnel, instead of a tall structure like here. But a great way to do pest control.
That a lot of extra fencing for chicken and gardens plus I I need to keep the deer 🦌 out that eat everything but the grass, they jump more than 5 feet I believe
Ah this seems like a great idea, would love to do this when we move onto our own property. Are they active at night? If not then no need for the top covering, just put them up. It would be great to try to create a forest environment for them in the moat and if you wanted to go crazy you could create another layer outside of that for a guardian dog. If the garden was in a miniature valley then the contour of the land would drain the nutrients from the moat into the garden
Brilliant idea, from observing my chooks and insects, lizards even other birds, the chooks are full on about killing and eating anything that moves. I've seen them see a small gnat type bug from across the yard and they'll run to catch and eat it
We used hot wire near the base of the chicken pen. Easier to install and maintain than wire (doesn't rust as easily) and cheaper if you already have a fence charger. And very effective.
@@katiedotson704 Here the snakes are too small to ingest an egg, and the chickens just too plain aggressive for the chicks to be threatened. We've seen our chickens (mostly banties) pile on to kill the snakes. They seem to think the snakes are tasty.
this would be a very expensive fence . especially in Canada right now. very cute, great idea, but very expensive. We just built a house-2018 and it cost 3x as much as we estimated.
I'm confused. The bridge with tunnel connects what 2 areas? It looked like it runs underneath the actual chicken moat. Don't i want them inside the moat instead of passing under it?
in my garden, i left the chicken free roaming, but had to fence my vegetable beds, they got ride of the roach infestation in the compost pile and the scorpion i often encounter when i clean the garden from time to time, before my chicken got stolen that it ..
So its the same concept with button quail? but to what size... i have a tiny backyard n want to do the same to prevent ants slugs snails and be blue tongue lizard proof
We believe you should be able to tweak the bird type and size to fit your specific needs! If you have a tiny backyard you might check into how much space button quail need to thrive, and then base you dimensions of the Moat Garden from that. Good luck! Thanks for watching!
There are smaller chickens out there. Quail are vegitarian not bug eaters so yeah. Even small chickens eat meat if they can get it, snakes, lizards, bugs, mice ECT.
You forgot to mention how EXPENSIVE all of this is to put up. Yeah, don't forget to contact your local government to get PERMISSION to do stuff on YOUR OWN PROPERTY too. Do we REALLY own our property any more? Between regulations and property taxes..... hard to really say.
I'm gonna move in next to your house, put a bunch of noisy animals in my back yard that screech all day and howl all night, pile their shit up against the fence next to your bedroom window, and whenever the pile gets too big, I'll light it on fire and you can just cross your fingers that none of the embers lands on your roof. Meanwhile I'll make sure to park my non working cars on my front lawn, along with my collection of broken appliances so that your property value goes down. That's what I love about being a property owner in your anarchistic fantasy world - it gives me the freedom to do whatever I want on MY OWN PROPERTY and not give a shit about my neighbors and do whatever I want without consequences no matter how much it hurts others or damages their property! WOOHOO! The only problem is your neighbors want money for their property and it's EXPENSIVE. Can you believe they actually want money for things? What kind of free country do we live in where things cost money? What do they expect me to do, work a job and gather enough money to purchase the property at a fair market value? Communist bastards.
And oh, yeah you don't need a ruling class of government to freely exchange value between free individuals for goods and services rendered. We can even choose our favorite currency to conduct our buisness. Isnt freedom great?
@@shelbyseelbach9568 ok , I may have seen that, to periodically hunt for insects that made it past the moat or that can fly over (locast) Makes sense. I like the chicken moat concept, don't get me wrong. I have chickens and would love to have an extra enclosure to let them run around in.
@@rce2553 I wasn't getting you wrong. You pointed out a potential flaw, I pointed out that it was specifically addressed in the video you were commenting on. No big deal.
You go ahead and use netting and let us know how that goes when the opossums coyotes and every known meat eater visits your chickens and nothing but steel bars will work for bear.
It‘s not about you, it‘s about ensuring animal welfare. They need space and care, and you shouldn‘t upset the neighbors too much to avoid noise complaints.
The chickens will eat your entire garden. This is a fine concept - IF you have the necessary space, resources and nerves to build and maintain this. It is definitely not for everyone!
8 years later this is still a great idea. I want to build this over the winter for our girls and our garden. If you have a child's 12 ft trampoline ready to retire, and wrap fence around it, you could attached it with a tunnel for an extra play area. Another hawk free zone.
I remember Mother Earth News showing what you're talking about here about 30 or more years ago. It was very interesting and I hadn't forgotten it.
Wish I had seen this earlier. It is next level.
Holy shit! What a pile of great ideas to consider for integrating chickens w/ our garden. Chicken tractors, chicken tubes, so many great ideas! I especially liked the attention to human traffic/chicken traffic and using greenery to cool & hold in moisture.
“The Hens Inn” so fun! Great construction! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I love this. I don't have a full moat but two sides of my organic vege garden is protected by my lovely hens. next phase will definitely be a moat....thank you again. J
+Colour Me Happy You'll have to send us pictures of your completed project!
This is SUCH a great idea! I sure wish I had seen this before constructing our new run. It just makes so much sense. The chickens are safe, the gardens stay bug free. I love the little underpass!
My uncle attempted this but discovered it doesn't stop flying insects, which of you think about it, is darn obvious.
@@esperago it actually does slow down a great deal of flying insects. And the chickens get additional protein but your correct, not all.
@@esperago He legit says in the video about flying insects.
@@ambeegaming76 He also leads with the statement that it works against "any" insect and then goes deeper by specifically saying "grasshoppers" and "flying insects." While I'm sure it deters some flying insects, if you lived where I live, it would do practically nothing to stop the grasshoppers and various flying beetles. Also, there's two more things worth noting: 1) Good luck with slugs. Slugs come out at night, when the chickens are away and that fence will not deter them. 2) This "castle and moat" isn't the best idea for a chicken run. Those chickens will turn the moat area into dirt very quickly. There'll be no grasses, seeds and way less insects for them to forage. Then when it rains, it'll be a pit of mud. To me the idea seems great on the surface but if you really start to think about it, you'd see the practical shortcomings. I think a person would be better off, if they have significant insect issues, screening their garden with mesh fabric and using a mobile chicken tractor, if they really wanted to get their chickens out and about. But that's my advice and nobody has to take it.
planning one in my chicken tunnels which will also surround the garden
I know how to deal with predators. The same concept as the chicken moat. You setup a 3rd fencing barrier that you use as a dog and goat run. The dogs chase off predators and the goats keep the vegetation clear so the dogs can see the predators more easily.
Beautiful life you have!!! It looks so peaceful!!
The person who thought of this should win a huge prize.
Awesome idea. I had thought about tractor coops that move around the moat.
I think it's funny how you mention that the chickens will scratch the garden plants up but I found it they will eat the garden plants up LOL
Outstanding idea!! I love your channel!
+Katherine Fish Awesome! We're glad it's helpful. Thanks for watching!
Super awesome! Happy chickens!
What a fantastic idea!
I wonder how this design is holding up after eight years.
Have you made improvements or perhaps extended your garden and chicken run?
An updated video on this would be nice to see and help us out on our builds here at home.
I love this idea! Thank you for the video
+Redinna Long Thank you for watching!
Unless your hens are on in years, you should be getting eggs every day (1 each day per hen) as long as you're feeding them enough calcium & protein -- not just "a few from time to time". I've seen a sort of "chicken moat" idea before, but nothing this elaborate -- and, quite frankly, beautiful! I'm going to try to implement something like this. (Assuming I can find/afford the building materials at this point in the decline of our civilization, of course!)
Different breeds produce eggs at different rates.
recycling centre will have loads of stuff you can use
Haha, a chicken moat. Best idea I've heard all week.
Wow! Awesome idea!
Very well thought out.
+Teabone Bones Thank you for watching!
What a great idea! Can be done much cheaper by making parts of the run just a netting tunnel, instead of a tall structure like here. But a great way to do pest control.
Predators
Guess you don't have coyotes
@@nickhatala8266 Yup. Most of the world do not have coyotes.
@@HelenEk7 not true? If u consider usa most of the world
@@MaYbYl8eR USA is hardly most of the world though..
That is ingenious!!!
This is such a cool idea!
Brilliant idea.
The thing that I always wanted but didnt know I needed- CHICKEN MOAT!!!!
I've always wanted a moat. A chicken moat seems even better!
Really cool, thanks!
Wow that is genius. So many tertiary applications.
That a lot of extra fencing for chicken and gardens plus I I need to keep the deer 🦌 out that eat everything but the grass, they jump more than 5 feet I believe
Ah this seems like a great idea, would love to do this when we move onto our own property. Are they active at night? If not then no need for the top covering, just put them up. It would be great to try to create a forest environment for them in the moat and if you wanted to go crazy you could create another layer outside of that for a guardian dog. If the garden was in a miniature valley then the contour of the land would drain the nutrients from the moat into the garden
Love this!!
The chicken moat is a fu**ing great idea! Genius.
Cool idea.
Brilliant idea, from observing my chooks and insects, lizards even other birds, the chooks are full on about killing and eating anything that moves. I've seen them see a small gnat type bug from across the yard and they'll run to catch and eat it
Great underground pass through :)
OMG! I LOVE IT!
Jan Coldwater Thanks for watching!
We used hot wire near the base of the chicken pen. Easier to install and maintain than wire (doesn't rust as easily) and cheaper if you already have a fence charger. And very effective.
@@katiedotson704
That makes sense in your area. Snakes here are smaller so the chickens think they're part of the menu...
@@katiedotson704
Here the snakes are too small to ingest an egg, and the chickens just too plain aggressive for the chicks to be threatened. We've seen our chickens (mostly banties) pile on to kill the snakes. They seem to think the snakes are tasty.
Great idea
great idea...
Good idea!
My chicken moat is almost complete. :)
Inner wall has been completed.
This is so clever I'm finding it hard not to swear in expressing it.
Very interesting
It is wonderful, but really, how much did that cost?
this is an old video but man what a great idea
Yep them chicken hawks. Seeing hanging outside of schools
Still seems to be a neat idea
very cool!
Matt Lobban Thanks for watching, Matt!
this would be a very expensive fence . especially in Canada right now. very cute, great idea, but very expensive. We just built a house-2018 and it cost 3x as much as we estimated.
I believe that you were smart to build when you did. When I first started in construction studs were $.99 and would often go on sale for $.75.
You could just to a chicken tunnel around the garden fence using chicken wire its cheaper
@@annak804 True. But I have to admit, this fenced area is more pleasing to the eye.
My only question is pollinators having access. Though our chickens are free range and have access to the garden all summer
HAHAHAAA THE CHICKET MOAT!!!!!
oh man i needed a belly laugh like i cant even tell you
Do you close the trap door to the hen house to keep racoons, mink, and the other chicken 🐔 night killers
Awesome
DonDuttine Pretty cool, huh? Thanks for watching!
Damm, that chicken hunted that bug with murder on its mind.
i gotta have a chicken moat now!
I'm confused. The bridge with tunnel connects what 2 areas? It looked like it runs underneath the actual chicken moat. Don't i want them inside the moat instead of passing under it?
The underpass goes under the gate area. It allows the chickens to go from one side of the moat to the other.
Badgers can chew through that vinyl wire like nothing!!! Seen it done personally
You want to also ask the local council about pipes and cables underground before digging that 2 foot trench.
Are you in America? Just call 811
And, right at the end is why I wouldn’t agree to chickens next door. The crowing rooster.
And you don’t even need a rooster unless you are trying to breed and hatch chicks. Hens lay eggs without a rooster around.
@@Vikingwerk very true, but many that raise chickens still have a rooster around to help maintain community structure.
Maybe you've allready said this, but where are the home of the chickens and where do they put their eggs?
in my garden, i left the chicken free roaming, but had to fence my vegetable beds, they got ride of the roach infestation in the compost pile and the scorpion i often encounter when i clean the garden from time to time, before my chicken got stolen that it ..
2:52 Seems like this garden falls into shadow for much of the day
So its the same concept with button quail? but to what size... i have a tiny backyard n want to do the same to prevent ants slugs snails and be blue tongue lizard proof
We believe you should be able to tweak the bird type and size to fit your specific needs! If you have a tiny backyard you might check into how much space button quail need to thrive, and then base you dimensions of the Moat Garden from that. Good luck! Thanks for watching!
There are smaller chickens out there. Quail are vegitarian not bug eaters so yeah. Even small chickens eat meat if they can get it, snakes, lizards, bugs, mice ECT.
Cool ty
Such a great idea! How much did it coast?
It does not have wheels, how far do you think it can _coast?_
*Here because of timcast and chicken city.*
How do they do against SVB
Vinyl coated chicken wire that would be a small fortune in my area
I wonder if this could be adjusted to work with rabbits
Rabbits do not eat bugs
EX CE LENTE !
No foxes gonna get in there coyote's!
way to corporate friend, but I see what you're doing. good job overall.
A rat can chew right thru chicken wire. Then other varmints like racoons use there hole, make it bigger and get in.
I guess the chickens also eat the good bugs. They are clueless about good or bad after all. Good coop though.
I'll bet that that would deter them long legged moose from jumping your fence too 😁
Flying insects unaffected
I want to do this for my dog to go potty
Must cook the hyacinth beans to eat them
Fire the town council before building chick palaces
You forgot to mention how EXPENSIVE all of this is to put up.
Yeah, don't forget to contact your local government to get PERMISSION to do stuff on YOUR OWN PROPERTY too. Do we REALLY own our property any more? Between regulations and property taxes..... hard to really say.
I just don't ask.
+Steven Feil We need to take this country back!
I wouldn't imagine this would be much more expensive than building a run and fencing in your garden. Same amount of materials really...
I'm gonna move in next to your house, put a bunch of noisy animals in my back yard that screech all day and howl all night, pile their shit up against the fence next to your bedroom window, and whenever the pile gets too big, I'll light it on fire and you can just cross your fingers that none of the embers lands on your roof. Meanwhile I'll make sure to park my non working cars on my front lawn, along with my collection of broken appliances so that your property value goes down. That's what I love about being a property owner in your anarchistic fantasy world - it gives me the freedom to do whatever I want on MY OWN PROPERTY and not give a shit about my neighbors and do whatever I want without consequences no matter how much it hurts others or damages their property! WOOHOO!
The only problem is your neighbors want money for their property and it's EXPENSIVE. Can you believe they actually want money for things? What kind of free country do we live in where things cost money? What do they expect me to do, work a job and gather enough money to purchase the property at a fair market value? Communist bastards.
And oh, yeah you don't need a ruling class of government to freely exchange value between free individuals for goods and services rendered. We can even choose our favorite currency to conduct our buisness. Isnt freedom great?
Attack chickens! HA!
Millet is good
That looks expensive.
Fun but cost prohibitive
Peter Brunner
Insects will slip through at dusk, night and early morning while the chickens are roosting.
I guess you missed the part where he discussed letting the chickens into the garden briefly periodically?
@@shelbyseelbach9568 ok , I may have seen that, to periodically hunt for insects that made it past the moat or that can fly over (locast) Makes sense. I like the chicken moat concept, don't get me wrong. I have chickens and would love to have an extra enclosure to let them run around in.
@@rce2553 I wasn't getting you wrong. You pointed out a potential flaw, I pointed out that it was specifically addressed in the video you were commenting on. No big deal.
@@shelbyseelbach9568 Have a good weekend,
Happy Easter!
@@rce2553 You too!
Personally it wouldnt be any of my neighbors buisness what i have ir anyone else.
They will also eat all ur vegetables.
You go ahead and use netting and let us know how that goes when the opossums coyotes and every known meat eater visits your chickens and nothing but steel bars will work for bear.
chicken tunnels are much easier
Rule #8; screw the neighbors.
Nice but it feel sad no place to go..I'm person no justice ..help me world go back home
Imagine begging the government to allow you to feed yourself.
I am with you there did you know vitamins and supliments are technically illegal
It‘s not about you, it‘s about ensuring animal welfare. They need space and care, and you shouldn‘t upset the neighbors too much to avoid noise complaints.
Just let the chickens free range...good grief. This is ridiculous, ugly, and expensive.
The chickens will eat your entire garden. This is a fine concept - IF you have the necessary space, resources and nerves to build and maintain this. It is definitely not for everyone!
I hate this production style. Emulating the shit that is television. I hate television.
Seems like an actual television short. Don‘t hate on TV. That‘s pointless. Find a different programming format you like.