Hello Again Folks,

What is a chicken moat? It is a double-fenced off area around my garden that allow my junkyard chickens to roam the perimeter without getting into the garden or getting loose. My moat is five foot high and just narrow enough to keep the hawks and owls from swooping down on the chickens and carrying one off.

To get into the garden, I have constructed a tunnel which goes under the gate entrance. This lets the chickens travel under the gate entrance to the other side without me worrying that they will slip out of the gate. I made the tunnel out of used chinmy cinder blocks. It works pretty good but, sometime I have to clean out the tunnel as it does fill up with water and mud. But, that is only because my moat and garden is at the base of a hill and water runs down toward it when we have a real heavy rainfall.

If you would like to see pictures of my chicken moat and the famous junkyard chickens you may take a look at the pictures in my photo albums on my webpage: http://communities.msn.com./livingoffthelandintheozarks

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 22, 2001

Answers

Hi Ernest, I can't seem to get to your page. Can you do a hot link? Thanks

-- Daryll in NW FLAhttp://www.webspawner.com/users/twincreekfarm/ (twincrk@hotmail.com), December 23, 2001.

Ernest, I've seen the pics of your moat before and it's a really impressive idea. Did you come up w/ that yourself? (Go ahead, brag) I've never seen anything similar anywhere before.

-- John in S IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), December 23, 2001.

Hello John,

I would like to take credit for it but, I can't. The creator of the chicken moat was Gene Gerue! He published the article in the mid-eighties in MEN. Long before I knew Gene, I had copied the idea down in one of my journal back in the eighties to use whenever I moved to the country. When I finally move here, I moved onto Gene's land to care take it for him. I did not know that it was his article. I was discussing the idea with him one day and told him that I had "found" the idea in an old issue of MEN. He laughed, and told me that it was HIS article! Later, I checked it out and found out that I was care taking for the man that invented it!

He is now a good friend and a neighbor. He took his down but, I have one and so does our nearest neighbor about a mile away. All of us agree that it is the best thing for those that organic garden as it does reduce the amount of bugs that get into your garden.

Incidently, Gene Gerue is a professional writer among which one of his books are on homesteading: How To Find Your Ideal Country Home, By Gene Gerue. You can find his book at Amazon.com

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 23, 2001.

Hello Daryll,

Others have told me that they too have trouble with bringing up my site. I think if you do not type the "www" you will have better results. Http://communities.msn.com.livingoffthelandintheozarks

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 23, 2001.

Well Ernest, if I were in your position I'd a lied about it and claimed credit myself! Or not. Still, goes to show you it's a small world indeed. Sounds like you've got a really good sorce of info amd encouragement right next door. Hope your all settled in for Christmas and have a happy holiday.

-- John in S IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), December 24, 2001.