Deer fencing/netting for aviary construction.

[danceswithronin]

I am currently looking at enclosing my entire chicken run and coop with an aviary net. My first idea is to get four or more 8 foot tall T-posts for the corner posts and install 8 foot tall square plastic netting (with inch-wide squares). This aviary box frame would be in addition to and directly outside of the four-foot wrought iron fencing panels that already enclose the run now. I'd probably also do another layer of chicken wire buried around the exterior of the fenceline to deter any diggers.

Does this seem like a viable solution? I am not worried about small predators like coons or possums because I have three dogs in the yard that deter them and a six-foot tall privacy fence around the whole property, but I am worried about hawks most of all and chickens flying the coop to be killed by the dogs, so I want the top of the run netted in a more permanent way than it is now. Right now I have garden netting draped over the four foot fence and while it is quite secure and has worked well for many months, it is a pain in the ass to do anything in the run because the netting is so low you have to crawl around beneath it or lift it up entirely. I want a net pulled taut eight feet over my head so I can walk around freely underneath it.

I'll also have to figure out some way to get the top of the aviary netting around two pear trees that are in the run. Right now I have just cut the existing netting around the tree trunks and adjust it accordingly.

 

[Norcal527]

I am building a large enclosed area for free range due to predators. My plan is a 6 ft welded wire fence with hot wires topped by an aviary net from Amazon. They have 50x100 ft nets for about $50 but also other sizes. I'm going to put a few 8 ft t posts to elevate the net high enough for me to walk under and attach it to the outer fence. Obviously this net wont keep ground critters out (that's what electric fence is for) but it will keep chickens in a safe area for forage and keep airborne predators out. They also have a secure coop for night time.

This has worked for me on a smaller scale in the past and we have lots of predators!

 

[Bookworm0124]

I am building a large enclosed area for free range due to predators. My plan is a 6 ft welded wire fence with hot wires topped by an aviary net from Amazon. They have 50x100 ft nets for about $50 but also other sizes. I'm going to put a few 8 ft t posts to elevate the net high enough for me to walk under and attach it to the outer fence. Obviously this net wont keep ground critters out (that's what electric fence is for) but it will keep chickens in a safe area for forage and keep airborne predators out. They also have a secure coop for night time.

This has worked for me on a smaller scale in the past and we have lots of predators!

Do you have a plan to roof any part of the run? I'm working on trying to find a way now. I'm going to be using 6ft welded wire fencing with hardware cloth along the bottom and buried like a skirt. Where I live we get a ton of snow so I'm trying to decide on a way to roof of at least part of the run to give them a snow free area.

 

[danceswithronin]

Do you have a plan to roof any part of the run? I'm working on trying to find a way now. I'm going to be using 6ft welded wire fencing with hardware cloth along the bottom and buried like a skirt. Where I live we get a ton of snow so I'm trying to decide on a way to roof of at least part of the run to give them a snow free area.

I would like to, but because I have two pear trees in the run as well I am limited in space for a roof. I'm thinking of tearing down my current coop, replacing it with a shed, and converting the shed into a large coop. Then the chickens can just get inside the coop if they want out of the weather. The pear trees do afford them a lot of shelter in hot weather and rain too. Just not snow, since they're not leafed out then. I think I'm just going to drape aviary netting all the way across the top of the run and try to secure it as tightly as I can.

 

[aart]

Right now I have garden netting draped over the four foot fence and while it is quite secure

How does it go around the trees?
I am assuming the perimeter of the run is the same...but may have misread that.
Some proportional sketches and pics would help.