I’m math illiterate. Pretty please help me with this.

[thecreekhouse]

Okay, I’m math... ummm... challenged so I could use some help with this.

My coop and attached run. (It’s a chicken tractor so the coop sits on top of the run) are 3 feet wide by 14 feet long. I am ordering Omlet brand chicken netting/fencing to allow my girls SUPERVISED free range time outside the coop and run.

I would like the chicken netting to run in a circle around the entire coop and run with enough space between the coop and run on each side so that the girls have some nice space to scratch end peck, plus I have room to sit inside the chicken fence to just spend time with the hens.

So which size of the Omlet fencing should I get? It comes in these lengths:

39 feet
68 feet
105 feet
138 feet

Which size do I need?

Many thanks from some of you more math literate folks than I am!

 

[jthornton]

C/π=d
39' / 3.14 = 12.4' in diameter
68' / 3.14 = 21.6' in diameter
105' / 3.14 = 33.4' in diameter
I'll leave the last one up to you to solve.

JT

 

[DobieLover]

Okay, I’m math... ummm... challenged so I could use some help with this.

My coop and attached run. (It’s a chicken tractor so the coop sits on top of the run) are 3 feet wide by 14 feet long. I am ordering Omlet brand chicken netting/fencing to allow my girls SUPERVISED free range time outside the coop and run.

I would like the chicken netting to run in a circle around the entire coop and run with enough space between the coop and run on each side so that the girls have some nice space to scratch end peck, plus I have room to sit inside the chicken fence to just spend time with the hens.

So which size of the Omlet fencing should I get? It comes in these lengths:

39 feet
68 feet
105 feet
138 feet

Which size do I need?

Many thanks from some of you more math literate folks than I am!

If you are going to put your tractor inside the netting, you can't use the two shorter lengths. There would not be enough room for you to get in.
Either of the other 2 lengths would work. I would personally get the largest size available. The more room the better.

 

[sourland]

The bigger the better.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have not used the Omelet brand netting, I have used Premier's electric netting. There are a lot of similarities other than the electricity. I'm assuming since you have a tractor you will be moving this regularly. I moved mine by myself but it is a lot easier with two people. Omelet is probably a lot lighter than the Premier electric netting so it should be easier.

You may find that a circle is not a practical way to arrange it. I arranged mine in sort of a rectangle and needed to guy wire the corners to stand up to wind. What kind of soil you have might have a lot to do with that. Mine was really rocky so it could be a pain to move plus I didn't always get the posts set firmly. When the weather set in wet the ground didn't support the posts as well either. Just something you might want to watch out for.

One big advantage to the circle is that it doesn't have any corners. I found when setting mine up that sharp corners or narrow corridors are not good. I usually had no problems keeping the birds in with a 48" high netting, but when I had a bunch of cockerels in mine they often got out. When they were having their cockerel fights if one got trapped against the netting they might go vertical to get away. Or if a pullet was trying to get away from an amorous cockerel she might go vertical and over the fence to get away. I noticed a sharp increase in those escapes if my corers were sharper than 90 degrees. 90 degrees were OK but flatter is better. One time I set it up with a narrow corridor and the cockerel escapes dramatically increased. With mature birds that isn't much of an issue, they don't fight much if at all or get trapped.

Baby chicks can walk through those 50 mm (2") holes until they grow. How much they have to grow will depend on whether they are bantam or full sized fowl. Just something to be aware of.

If you get a length and it's not big enough it is really easy to put two different lengths together. I put end posts side by side and tied the top and bottom together with string. That way I had a gate I could drive a riding mower through plus the two sections would be lighter than one long section when moving it.

I also agree the bigger the better. I don't know how many chickens you have but the smaller it is the more often you may need to move it.

Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

 

[purslanegarden]

C/π=d
39' / 3.14 = 12.4' in diameter
68' / 3.14 = 21.6' in diameter
105' / 3.14 = 33.4' in diameter
I'll leave the last one up to you to solve.

JT

for the OP, another way to think of this is, at the minimum, you need 14' feet diameter, which is the longest size of your run. if I understood your description correctly that even with the tractor, your longest length is still 14.

Since you wanted additional space between the run and the walls of the circle, then increase that to whatever you think is fine for you, such as 16' or 18'. As you can see, even the 68' length can make a circle up to around 21' diameter.

Since I am a stickler for more length is less price per length, and knowing that I may eventually find a use for more length of wire, I would also subscribe to the idea of buying one of the longer lengths, as long as it's still in your budget.