bird flu

[Yorkshire Coop]

oh dear, I dont think I can keep my birds from free-ranging as the coop/run they have is quite small and they peck each other badly if kept inside, even for just a day. There are also wild birds that fly down into the coop-run as it is as they are small enough to get through the chicken wire. The only bigger birds here are a couple of magpies and a blackbird that come into the garden. No one from a farm or the likes has access to my girls and I dont go to anything like that other than the farm supplies for their feed once a month but I will bleach my boots if I do go there from now on.

A bit worried to be honest but it isn't going to be fair on them to shut them in unless I make them house-hens (which they'd love but my human friends would kill me if I did).

I really hope you Yorkshire girls and your birds are going to be OK.

Maybe you could fence them an area off around your coop. I only have small coops for roosting on a night and laying in and they have a fenced off run around them. It's the wild birds that concern me too but I can't stop every critter coming in and stealing food. Hopefully they have got this early and it won't spread. Good luck with your girls

 

[Xtineart]

Thanks, I have quite a smallish garden that they free range in with 6 foot high solid fences all round, so I'm trying to work out if it's possible to hang some fine mesh over the 'roof' of my garden or make a temporary run with garden plant mesh and bamboo poles to stop the wild creatures getting in close to my hens, though it still means that the wee birds can poop though it if it's transmitted by droppings and I'm not sure how I'd make it accessible for feed changing and coop cleaning etc. time to get my thinking head on.......