Do I need wire on top of the chicken yard fences?

[Newfienanna]

I am in the process of building a hen house (10 x 20) in our barn that will open into 4 large ex-dog pens (39 x 60). The chain link fencing is 5 ft high. Do I need to put something on top? I'll be moving 25 pullets into the new house in about a week. They're 4 to 8 weeks old. They will be locked inside at night. There are also 'coons and coyote in the woods surrounding our farm.

I have a free range rooster and hen in a separate coop at night but am reluctant to let the little ones go that route for now. We do have 2 beautiful hawks but I would prefer that they not have a buffet of my chickens.

Also, the barn is quite a distance from the house and our 4 dogs (Newfoundlands) are indoors with us at night.

Oh, I'm not a city girl just haven't raised chickens since I was a kid - and now I'm a bonafide senior citizen - just got my Medicare card - boo!

Joyce

 

[AmyLM]

are you using anything to reinforce the dog fencing? the holes on that fencing is huge and snakes, coons, and coyotes can get paws/teeth... or snakes whole bodys easily through the gaps.

Personally I happen to live in an area with A LOT of predators... I see hawks flying overhead every day.. and roosting in our trees to watch the chickens. SO I know full well that we have to have a cover on the runs otherwise our chickens wouldn't last long. It all depends on your situation.

 

[Aeropennchick]

The hawks will probably try and make meals out of your little ones. You can try using cris-crossed string or wire to deter them, or hang something reflective like pie tins or CD's at regular intervals. Here is a neat old thread that shows the CD system:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/44145/hawk-saucer

We ended up adding orange cris-crossed wires to our run to be on the safe side.

 

[Deviant]

I used bird netting over my run and I over lapped it. You don't want things flying in for lunch lol