Does a run absolutely need a top?

We have a very large fenced area for ours to run in all day. It has 6 foot fencing all around and we clip only one wing and we have only ever had one girl get out because she figured out how to jump to the top of a short door then to the top of our breeder cages and then over the fence. If you don't have alot of birds of prey around they should be fine. We have lots of hawks but have only had one girl attacked in the cage and one of our roosters attacted the hawk. The little girl made a full recovery.

 

The top isn't from keeping them out... it's from keeping things from getting in

 

YES. Hawks or other animals may crawl in.

 

Well, we live in S. Az...we didn't even question a top to the coop. IT IS THERE! There are too many predators from sky and land, that we don't want in the coop.

 

Oh, I would absolutely cover that run. Last summer, not too long after our chickens were big enough to go from the tractor into the run (seen below) my roo started making this LOUD noise that I had never heard before. I ran to the window and looked out to find a big HAWK perched on the picket fence! Needless to say, DH and I covered the run with the bird netting that you can see in the pic. While we were in the process of covering it, my roo sounded his hawk alarm again and, I kid you not, a hawk flew over our run and landed in one of our next door neighbors' trees! Our new run is completely covered with bird netting too.

Old run


New run

 

One of the things I heard to do to keep flying predators out of the run is to string fishing line back and forth across the top of the run. This seems like it would be cheaper than netting, but does anyone think it would be effective?

 

Quote:It may be, but I'd add some old CD's on there so that you don't end up with a tangled raptor!

 

I made mine out of chicken wire. I needed (originally and now, for the temporary enclosure,) a 10 x 10 'ceiling.' I bought 50 ft (2 1/2 ft high), divided it into 4 equal pieces, wove the pieces together with wire, then connected it to my 'walls' with wire. If you sew, then you would understand that I "whipstitched" it to the walls.

When the dog fencing was taken down, I cut the wires which connected it and rolled up and stored it (under the canoe!). When I put the fencing up again, 2 weeks ago, I simply unrolled and re-connected it. I like the chicken wire because hawks, owls, raccons and (gulp!) cats--my Vet told me they'll scale wire fences to get in--won't go in to eat my birds if they think they are going to be trapped inside.

Should have pics of my temporary quarters up by Monday. Almost done taking them--I'll upload them on the 18th.