coop fencing

[Kuntry Klucker]

I am new to the chicken hobby, we are in the process of finishing our chicken coops and were wondering
if a 6ft. wire fence was enough or if we need to cover it. We live in the country but the chicken coop
is in our back yard with a 6ft. wood privacy fence around the backyard. Also, will the chicken fly out
of it if there is not top on it?

 

[Baymen Moe]

I'd be more concerned about hawks flying into the run than chickens flying out. Not to mention critters that will climb up to get in. At least cover it with something to keep hawks out, that would be a good security measure to start with.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Ok, thank you.

 

[sydney13]

we are not going to have two parts of the run.
one were they can go in when im not home and then a big run with no roof for them when we are home.
if they did fly out you could trim their wings and you could also plant bushes for cover from hawks and hang cds off trees to prevent hawks

 

[ekemily]

You would be surprised how many predators are waltzing around at night. I would make sure your run is as predator proof as possible if you are not going to close them up every night. Definitely cover the top. We covered the top of our run with the same fencing we used for the main siding. We also made a horizontal fence and staked it to the ground around the outside of the run to keep out digging foxes.

 

[surfchicken72]

I also have a related question... for the run, do you need to "bury" some of the fencing if you're not going to leave them unattended?
If so how deep? we were going to have a 4ft high fence. too short? (and if we bury some it will be even shorter)

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Do you have a "regular" fence around your yard/property? If your run is fairly small, I'm betting they will fly over a 4ft. fence, at least if you have anything other than the heaviest of breeds. And even the heavies can fly pretty well for the first 12 weeks or so. If your run is pretty large, then I'd think you'd have a better chance of them not trying to fly out. Skirting is an option to burying wire. But I would seriously consider covering your run. That way, even when you're not home, you'll feel so much more secure about your chickens being out.

Roy...will you be closing your chickens in their housing each night??? If there's a chance that you won't be, then I'd strongly advise covering your run. If you're for certain closing them in each night, I would think a 6 ft. fence within a fence would be pretty safe for daytime. Bantams and light breed standard birds CAN fly 6ft (my EE has no problems flying at least 6 ft.), but they most likely won't, especially if you have heavier breeds.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

I have no idea what breed Roy is, I have a post with his descriptions but not responses yet.
Our back yard is fenced in with a 6ft. wood privacy fence. We are not sure what kind of pen
we are going to make, we wanted to get some opinions from other who have chickens
what is best to do. So the chicken pen would be in a fenced in backyard, I am not sure if
this makes any difference in what we need to use for the pen or not. We basically want the pen
so that we can put them in their pen when we work in the garden, berry bushes, and grape
vines that are also in the fenced back yard.

 

[dinahmoe]

most definately cover the top.we used economy(3inx4in) wire from lowes.it was fairly cheap for a 50 ft.we clipped it together with j-clips used for cage building.you will have to use braces or it will sag in the middle.my RIRs can fly over a 6ft fence straight up and not to mention possums and coons.even if you have a coop and lock them up at night,there will be one night you forget or get home late.
here is a picture of mine for some ideas.

 

[Artistic Visionz]

I had the same question, but I am 6'4" and the fence area is also used by my mini horse so I would have to be able to stand up in it. Right now I have a good size area with a 4 foot high fence and no money to replace it.
There are allot of coyote around and there even was a dead one in my barn when I moved in.

My neighbor across the street lets his chicken’s free range fenceless all day and locks them up at night and has never had any trouble.