How tall?

[FlyWheel]

I'm thinking of making a temporary, movable, collapsible extension to my chicken run so they can "free range" periodically without my having to worry about them wandering into the dog's area. I would like to use a plastic 'netting' sorta like this:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en....1.64.img..2.17.4388...0i8i30k1.0.HflOV_PC17o

...that I can stake out to contain them in the area I want. My question is; how tall should it be to discourage them from flying out? Since I do want to make this temporary so I can break it down and move it periodically roofing it would not be a viable option.

I'm not worried about predators as the chickens would only be outside their pen for a few hours and I would probably be watching them ("Chicken TV").

 

[The Moonshiner]

What breeds do you have? Heavy breeds? Light breeds?
My laying flock have some heavy breeds and they stay in 4' fencing.
I also have a lot of leghorns and they'll hop a 6' fence like its nothing.

 

[FlyWheel]

One four year old Red with a bum wing, one 2YO Marans, 1 2YO Black Australorp and seven EE's (same age). None have their wings clipped.

 

[aart]

Floppy top edge of that stuff will deter landing on it to go over.
I'd go at least 4'....tho 6 would be better.
What kind of posts/stakes will you use?

 

[FlyWheel]

Floppy top edge of that stuff will deter landing on it to go over.
I'd go at least 4'....tho 6 would be better.
What kind of posts/stakes will you use?

Simple steel bang in stakes. Size depends of course on fence height chosen. I want something that I can set up, break down and re position easily so I can rotate where they scratch and munch, that way their 'playground' (hopefully) won't end up as barren and boring as their pen. Right now it's pretty weeded over so they have plenty of cover. The area is wooded as well.

 

[aart]

Simple steel bang in stakes.

Tposts(which are pretty easy with a post hammer) or Uposts?

I use Tposts, but my sandy soil makes them pretty easy to remove and re-position.

How to attach netting is another consideration, this is where metal mesh fencing might be an advantage with Tpost clips(don't need to bend them around) and fencing almost stands on it's own in a curve with just a clip here and there.

 

[FayoumisFreak]

Easter Eggers are pretty good flyers, I'd go for at least 6'

 

[True Patriot]

I have a frame from a cheap pop up canopy. The top is long since torn and thrown away. You can wrap the fence around the legs and throw bird net over top. Almost instant portable run. I suppose a new one would cover for rain also. But I reuse all my "junk" Not something I would rely on as far as predators, but supervised is fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My full-sized dual-purpose hens and rooster have no problem flying up to a 5' high roost, they could easily go much further if they wanted to. Yet they stay inside my 4' high electric netting. It's not how far can they fly, it is whether they want to or not. The trick is to make them not want to.

One standard way chickens escape over a fence is that they like to perch. If the top of the fence looks like a good place to land they just might fly up there, even if it is seven or eight feet tall. Who knows which side they will hop down on? Could be either. That plastic fence you are looking at would take care of that, but would the posts give them a good perch? Think about your gate too and how you handle that.

I raise a lot of pullets and cockerels with the flock inside that electric netting. I used to have problems with the cockerels especially getting out. They would get in one of their skirmishes and one would be trapped against the netting. They would go vertical to get away. Often they would land on the wrong side of the netting and of course they don't know enough to fly back inside. You might get a female desperate to get away from a rambunctious male that got trapped against the netting but it was mainly the cockerels.

I learned that if I avoided sharp corners that problem dropped. 90 degree corners were OK but a little flatter is better. With that netting and poles there is no reason to have sharp corners.

Another problem was when I made a long narrow alley to get to a more open area. That alley was maybe 15 feet wide. For some reason those cockerels kept getting trapped against the fence. When I eliminated that alley and made it a lot wider that problem went away.

I'm quite successful with 4' high electric netting but 5' would probably give you more leeway, just spread it out to avoid sharp corners and tight spaces. If you can extend the netting above the top of the posts (if it is stiff enough it may stand up for several inches) you can help eliminate a perch. This does not mean they can't escape, they can if they really want to. It's possible some will learn to fly over no matter what you do. But I've been pretty successful.

If you are going to move it much you might find an investment in a T-post puller as well as a hammer a good idea. I got mine at Tractor Supply.

 

[Mr.Rogers]

If you clip their wings they will not be able to flap around and get out.