Chicken Newbie - Need advice on fencing

[BWKatz]

Quote:
How do u keep eagles & hawks out?

 

[galanie]

I have a pretty pair of @%$#% Hawks close by and I keep them out by covering the top with plain old bird netting, the plastic kind for keeping birds off your tomatoes. But it's not stretched tight, it's really loose and so doesn't rip (also makes things tangle in it when they try to get past it). But then, my run is only a 4' x 8' rig that I drag around the yard. They are in the coop at night, and the run in the daytime. In the daytime, I have no other predators to worry about other than maybe a couple shy cats so this has been working great for a couple months now.

This hawk (and his lady) came back many times over about two weeks, and never did figure out how to get a chicken dinner. Haven't seen it in my yard for a few weeks now.
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PS - I have them "trained" to follow me to the run in the morning and the coop at night (by having a treat in my hand - and they know it). My neighbors get a real kick out of watching the process - I walk fast and the chickens RUN and flap their wings to keep up

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

We used 1/2" hardward cloth everywhere, including the top of the run and put a skirt around the bottom of the run. The windows and ventilation openings of the coop have hardware cloth . Electric twine fencing surrounds the bottom of the run about 6 inches off of the ground.

We also buillt a large area from the run, in the pasture, so the chickens can go out when I'm at home. This part is not predator proof. I used plastic step in posts, plastic poultry fencing from Lowes, and deer netting on the top to keep out the hawks and the chickens in. When this was first built, we didn't have the deer netting on the top. After five min. one of the chickens flew over the 3' high plastic poultry fencing. Yesterday, we added 20 inch electric poultry fencing because something, I think a rabbit, was chewing holes in the plastic poultry fencing.

I'm hoping this will protect the girls from predators.

 

[Davlyn]

Quote:
How do u keep eagles & hawks out?

That's the only issue. I have pitched a few stones at a chicken hawk last yr. I have a wild turkey that flies in once a yr. Other than that I pray. they have the lilac tree & large ferns to hide under, plus in the coop or under. But after seeing my neighbors pen, so small for all those big chickens & 2 ducks, & when it rains it's so muddy. I like letting my chickens have room to roam

 

[kla37]

Go with hardware cloth. It's much more durable and raccoons and such cannot rip it open. Chicken wire is pretty much useless against most predators. Make sure you prevent predators from digging into the run by burying the barrier into the ground, or completely cover the ground with it. You can roof the run to keep weather and "death from above" out, or use netting over the top. Sounds like you are really approaching this the right way by getting everything ready now! Good luck and have fun!