Best Bird Netting?

[katsmeow112]

Anyone have a really large area they are putting the netting over? How are you supporting it? I feel like attaching it to the perimeter is not enough. It will sag in the center especially when the snow comes. We have an area roughly 30' x 50' that is fenced with the 8'x8' coop inside. Many of our neighbors don't seem to be using netting at all, but I'm concerned about hawks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Anyone have a really large area they are putting the netting over? How are you supporting it? I feel like attaching it to the perimeter is not enough. It will sag in the center especially when the snow comes. We have an area roughly 30' x 50' that is fenced with the 8'x8' coop inside. Many of our neighbors don't seem to be using netting at all, but I'm concerned about hawks.

You're most likely going to need to put support pillars inside, and/or run support wires to drape the netting on.

 

[BDutch]

@katsmeow112
I used the frame of an old party tent to attach the netting. Glued the tubular parts together. Then I attached the netting to the tubular frame with a thin rope, which was delivered with the netting. The netting I like best is a cat netting, meant to lock in cats on balconies, with a thin metal thread inside.

 

[tsperry88]

This is how I did it.

 

[aart]

Anyone have a really large area they are putting the netting over? How are you supporting it? I feel like attaching it to the perimeter is not enough. It will sag in the center especially when the snow comes. We have an area roughly 30' x 50' that is fenced with the 8'x8' coop inside. Many of our neighbors don't seem to be using netting at all, but I'm concerned about hawks.

Have seen posts set in concrete in 5gal buckets,
cross member at top of post to holds up netting.

Welcome to BYC! @katsmeow112
How much snow do you get?
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[chippysmom]

This is an old thread, but I wanted to add that I also use a canopy tent frame (10x 20, I think) to support part of the netting. Our pen is about 25x 36 with a greenhouse along the long end. We inserted T-posts into the ground, then slid the poles of the tent frame over them. It is very sturdy (even my husband cutting a tree and dropping it on it didn't destroy it, only bent it. To start with, I use 50 lb fishing line (walmart, $2), I tie it to the fence on one side, up and over the canopy, and across the pen to the greenhouse and is attached to a plastic pipe running along the side of the greenhouse. I use the fishing line about every 5 feet or so. Then I put the netting (Lowe's wildlife netting) up over the line. The line keeps the netting from sagging. The hard part is having to use little pieces of string or something to tie the sections of netting together so there isn't any gaps for hawks to get in, or chickens to get out. I'm not sure about how big the netting is. Maybe 1/2 or 3/4". So, the string and the netting is tied to the plastic pipe, which I then tie to the greenhouse. We do get some snow, and with heavy snow I can then take the pipe off the greenhouse and put it on the ground, to both avoid damage to the greenhouse, and to stop the netting from tearing. Our snow only lasts a day or two. I'm on the hunt for larger holed netting as the size we have now really collects both rain and snow. When it snows I'm out there knocking a stick against the netting to get the snow off, as I said, the weight of the snow (and we may only get 3 inches) can collapse the netting.