coop fencing

[mrs918]

Hi, Im new here, and loving all this information!

My husband and I are planning on doing an urban coop in our back yard when spring hits ... So I have a few questions!

We plan on converting an old wood lean-to into the coop (closing in the sides, adding door, and of course keeping it ventilated with windows ect) The run will be that side of our back yard (the other side is for the dogs), which is currently fenced in on neighbors side with a 6ft wooden fence, and on the "yard' side, with 3 ft hog wire. This is a large area, probably 15' wide by 30' long or so... We are fine with the chickens having it all during the times we are there. BUT, what about that 3 ft fence? How high does it need to be to keep them in? We are not settled on what breeds we will have (although we are limited legally to 3 birds total) - and I know breed can vary the fence height.

But any general info will help us.

Thanks much!!

 

[kateseidel]

Well, I have great big fat Buff Orpingtons, and they can definitely fly up and over the paddock fence to the horses which is 5 feet high, and can also fly the 6 feet up to roost in the top of their coop. But in general, they prefer not to fly more than 3' off the ground. You might want to consider putting some net "roofing" up over the run area to keep flying things out and discourage the hens from going over to visit the neighbors. You would definitely want something with a smaller guage than hog wire - my fat girls can wriggle through it.

 

[mrs918]

Thats what I was thinking... .We might end up making the run smaller than the WHOLE side yard, so that we can close it in.

 

[kateseidel]

What I like about having a wooden fence on one side is that if the supports are on *your* side, there is usually a 2x4 at about 5.5 feet and you can use that to tack down your "roofing" for the run!! Tall enough for the hens, and me (I'm only 5'3"). But even a normal height person can scuttle in there easily. Of course, if the neighbors own the fence, you might mention to them you are now using it for hen construction. A bribe of eggs works well.

 

[elmo]

Don't forget to consider how to keep critters that eat chickens out, too. Your own dogs, for example. Another common daytime predator are hawks.

 

[midget_farms]

Unless you have real issues with the dogs (my mom's yorkie will kill my chickens in a heart beat) they should get along well. Just introduce the birds to the dogs early & let them understand these are off limits.

As for the fence - 3ft probably wont work. I have a 5ft fence & that does great. You can clip wings which is easy & does not hurt at all. But with clipped wings they can still jump a 3ft fence.

 

[chickfamilyonsleepyhollow]

We have a four foot chain link fence in our back yard and have seen our Red Sex-links (RIR-Delaware) roost on it several times late in the day when we let them free range ... one jumped up and over the six foot stockade fence that surrounds our backyard when a chair was left near the fence ... chickens are very clever

Initially our run did not have fence on top and one day a hawk flew into the run

fortunately our girls made it safely into the coop

we put chicken wire up the next day ... that pesky hawk still lurks in trees near the coop

 

[mrs918]

Thanks for all the information! I'm pretty sure our dogs will be fine with them... but obvioiusly won't be left alone with the chickens anyways.

 

[WhySayWhat]

Oh yeah! I'm not the only crazy lady in Spokane doing chickens this Spring!

Our plan right now for a run is the 4' chain link that came with the house (the previous owners had partitioned part of the yard with it for their dogs) as the main portion of the fence with 1/2" hardware cloth around the bottom of it and as a cover over the top. But, we are only giving the gals the "minimum" 10' sq of outdoor run space (give or take a little). The plan is to let them free range with our dog inside (she's a bird dog, I don't want any issues) while one of us is outside with them.

I don't know what neighborhood you are in, but I know our's has a group of crows that took up residence last year and they are back this year (4-5 breeding pairs of the darned things), so we want to make sure nothing can swoop in and take our pets! We also want to keep them safe from the local squirrel population...one of our neighbors feeds them every day!

 

[mrs918]

Oh! I never really thought about the squirrels... We have a few but they stay out of the back yard because of our dogs.... We've seen some ravens around, so something to consider also.

We are not far from Illinois street btw

I hope your project goes great! Are you buying your chickens or chicks from someone local?