Need help designing daytime use hawkproof chicken paddock

Hi Crickettoo! One of the risks of free ranging is hawks/eagles....I have a large run (aprox 20 ft by 30 ft) that I covered with bird netting. When I let them free range I try to stay out with them (not very practical I know). Do you have a rooster? Roosters are good at keeping their eyes on the sky and sending out a warning if anything comes around. Also, do you have a lot of shrubs or low lying plants that they can escape under? Sorry I dont have better advice... :-S

In the UK we can buy relatively cheaply in comparison to welded mesh on a roll "Heras Security fence panels

These are 3.5M x 2M each typically about £20 on Ebay.

So a simple 3.5M Run 2M high needs just 6 if you want to cover the top over as well

They use simple cheap clamps to bolt them together so all sorts of run shapes and sizes can be made very quickly

They actually work out considerably cheaper then buying wood and making a frame then covering it wit wire etc

The time saved is considerable

They look better and last for ever

They can be dismantled

They are very strong.

See what equivalent products are available to you locally.

We are thinking about running hog wire (the kind they use at the bottom of the hurricane fences) attached to the roof of our long covered run and to the fence in the chicken yard, then cover all the wire with chicken wire. This is just to protect them from areal attacks during the day, they have a predator proof run and coop where they stay when they are not free ranging. Right now they have to be supervised when they FR because there are always hawks around, unfortunately they are limited as to how much time I can spare to watch them, so I am looking for ways to be able to keep them out and protected. I only have 9 hens and losing one to a hawk will be too bad.
 

That is exactly what I have around my paddocks for the free ranging birds the Heras stuff will just be for the WIR.

2M high lightweight Deer proof stock fencing

It comes in 50M rolls

they do a heavier version as well and I wish I had bought that now that we have the ponies in this area but it would have been very awkward to handle - quite heavy.

Not quite finished yet going to turn the top over to make it a bit more anti climb

the bottom is closely spaced and is ideal for preventing our Runner Ducks from escaping as they can get through normal stock fencing

Oh and with all this snow here is a witch hazel in flower so a hint of spring to come

They are Bamboo rustlers as well!