How can one person move a chain-link pen across grass?

June 21, 2020 8:56 AM

I have a 10x10 chain link dog pen like this one (it contains chickens, not dogs) I'd like to move it to a different spot in my slightly rough lawn every month or so without enlisting extra helpers to potentially get covered in chicken manure. I easily moved and assembled the panels myself, but is there a way to slide it in one piece with one person? I was thinking of using PVC pipes to make smooth rails to slide it on but would like advice from anyone who's tried something similar before.
posted by genmonster to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Fold in a corner until the pen is a very long and skinny parallelogram, then unfold the other corner until it’s long on the other axis. Repeat in this manner, and you can ‘walk’ the pen around as far as you like without ever lifting the whole thing off the ground (assuming you can lift enough to squish it in and out of square).
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:03 AM on June 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

I think SaltySalticid has it. I would add that those panels are usually joined with pintle and gudgeon, and you may need to rearrange some of those if the panels just pop off when you lift them (like, turn the top or bottom connections upside down). Also, there's always one stupid chicken that doesn't get it and waits to be crushed by the trailing edge.
posted by bricoleur at 9:30 AM on June 21, 2020

Do you need it to contain the flock while you’re moving it? If not, I would try attaching wheels to the posts sticking out to the side right at the bottom, so when I lifted the other side the whole cage would tip up onto the wheels.

Or SaltySaltacid's approach, though I think pulling a corner out would be easier, because then you’re pulling the adjacent corners in over grazed ground, not pushing them out into rougher grass.

Chicken tractor!
posted by clew at 9:31 AM on June 21, 2020

Response by poster: so I forgot to add that there is a tarp stretched across the top secured with zip ties that I would prefer not to remove, so the square shape of the pen can't be deformed.
posted by genmonster at 9:43 AM on June 21, 2020

Best answer: If it’s a rigid rectangle due to the tarp, can you attach ropes to the bottom four corners and then lift the whole thing up while standing the middle? It’ll be very awkward but may still allow you to walk it around on individual corners without having to parallelogram it.

Alternatively, slip a wheeled pallet under one narrow side while pull on the other, like a wheelbarrow.
posted by migurski at 9:58 AM on June 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think making it into a sled is your best bet, whether the skis are wood or PVC or whatever is easiest. I would try to smooth or curve the corners/leading edges of the skis so it goes over bumps rather than getting stuck in dips.
posted by janell at 9:59 AM on June 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: These are some great answers! I had though of the sled but will now also investigate wheels. I'm also considering migurski's suggestion of lifting it while standing inside but might try to pass two poles through the chain links and lift it with those rather than ropes.
posted by genmonster at 12:18 PM on June 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah, the two poles sounds much less fiddly.
posted by migurski at 1:12 PM on June 21, 2020

Especially if you have a second person, since the sedan chair approach shouldn't get them manure-y.
posted by clew at 3:25 PM on June 21, 2020

I've seen the wheeled version of this called a chicken tractor. It might be hard to turn your setup into one, but that's a good starting point for a search.
posted by ethand at 6:33 AM on June 22, 2020 [1 favorite]