Moving Chickens to Free Range.....

That is a nice set up and I am sure that initial fencing investment was pricey as well. How do you keep the hawks out as well as the jumpers? I have seen coyotes jump fence like that with ease.

organictoon said:

That is a nice set up and I am sure that initial fencing investment was pricey as well. How do you keep the hawks out as well as the jumpers? I have seen coyotes jump fence like that with ease.

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I bought the fence in sections, over a couple of years. So it wasn't that bad. I have lost one bird to a hawk in 4 yrs. For the most part, the birds get well tuned in to their surroundings. They can move surprising fast when a hawk shows up. I have seen them react to a crow's hawk call. Yes, there is a certain call a crow makes, when hawks come around, and the chickens know it, and they don't sit around wondering if they heard it right. They have the coop, plus a big brushy area behind the coop to hide.

As far as jumpers go. Sure, a coyote or a fox could leap over. But, like I said, 4 yrs without a loss, and I have a wide assortment of predators here. Animals, when approaching something strange/different in their way, will check it out with their noses. That's just what they do. And when they do, they get a very painful correction to their face, with this fence. I have been bit by this fence a few times, and it will jolt the he!! out of you. I can only imagine sticking my nose to it. I consider this fence to be one of the best things I have done for my birds, next to their coop. It has really done the job for me. The fox around here were going to kill everything I had. 9 one day, 7 on another. Something had to be done, and the fence/netting was it.

Well it sounds like the route I will go as well then, when you say open air coop do you mean something like this?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/open-air-coops

organictoon said:

Well it sounds like the route I will go as well then, when you say open air coop do you mean something like this?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/open-air-coops

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Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Here's a good old book:

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003138272;view=1up;seq=7

I built my coop from the drawings/plans in that book, The Wood's coop. The book is full of good info.