fence for run

[activia]

I'm just starting to plan here...

Currently I have around .5 acre of fenced in yard for the dog. It's probably about 80% lawn, but there is a good amount of woods and brush area all around. I'd love if the chickens could take care of some of that brush and the tick problems it creates. I dont want the chickens on the lawn all the time, because I dont want them to tare it apart, but I will let them loose on it supervised on the weekends.

So my current fencing material is this: http://www.bestfriendfence.com/ It's 5 foot of their heavy duty, with a 3 foot "chew guard" that is bent inward 1ft to prevent digging. What I was thinking of doing is fencing a portion around the outside in for the birds and maybe moving it a different area once/twice a year. I dont think I would need the chew guard tho, and I was thinking 5ft would be sufficient because if they do go over it, its not a big deal.

Since the area I want the chickens in is wooded for the most part, having a fence over top is not really going to work. What do all of you think of this idea?

I was thinking of having RIR (starting with 2-3 going up to 6 if all goes well). I live in easter Mass so cold winters are usually typical (not this year), and I would like to have a good egg production since we eat a lot of eggs. Also looking for a breed that is very hardy as I'm very new to this.

 

[activia]

anyone out there?

 

[Bullitt]

Rhode Island Reds are certainly hardy chickens and one of the best brown-egg layers.

I clicked on the link and it is just the main website for the dog fence company.

Did you already buy the fence?

 

[activia]

Thanks for the reply.

The fence around the permiter is already installed as described with that fence. I have not purchased the additional 5' fence I was considering for the chickens. I do plan on clipping their wings..

 

[Bullitt]

How big of an area will this planned fenced area give them?

RIRs with clipped wings might be able to get on a 5-foot fence, but if they have food inside the fence they won't want to leave.

Is this fence easy to move around?

Maybe a chicken tractor is what you need. But you couldn't pull a chicken tractor into brush. So that may not work.

 

[activia]

I'm not too concerned if they do go over the 5' occasionally and peck in the yard its not a big deal. if they go over the 7' 6" one then I'm in trouble because that would be towards the neighbors, although there is probably another 6-8' before the neighbors property..

I would basically attach the fence to the tree line, I might need a pole or two.. The poles are suppose to come out easy since they go inside the sleeve that goes in the ground (not that I've had to take any out). Although now I'm thinking if I do all poles it will probably make it way easier. Then I can just order extra sleeves and pull the poles in and out. Although they are a bit expensive..

I can make it pretty long.. I'll try to estimate here..it will very between 4-8ft wide (closer to high side in most places), I could probably make it 80ft long which would cover about half of the woodsy fenced in area. Or I might just fence in 20ft and move it around,, The smaller it is the less poles I need. This would only require 2 or 3. It also depends how easy it is actually is to move around. There is a good amount of really tough pricker bushes in one area (although the fence line is pretty clear), there is also a lot of poison ivy and ticks. I'm hoping they help with these problems actually.

So how long do you recommend? What about those bushes (they dont have much foilage on them..)

 

[Bullitt]

All I can say is to get the shorter length of fence if it is easy to move. If it will be a pain to move, fence in the 80-foot area.

I am sure the chickens will find plenty to eat in a wooded area. But do you have any predators around? That could be a problem.

The RIRs with clipped wings should not be able to get over that 7-foot, 6-inch fence. You are right, if they get on the grass once in a while it won't hurt anything.

 

[activia]

I'm not sure about predators. I'd have them in the coop at night. I'm know there are owls/bats/possums/dear/gophers/ probably racoons although I've never seen them or had to deal with them here. There might be coyotes but none that I've seen or heard about. The neighbors have a small dog that seems to run loose sometimes. The fence should keep them out (except the birds/possum). Otherwise my dog lol..but she'll always be out supervised.

 

[Bullitt]

It's good to have a dog around, because it keeps most predators away. You were laughing. Do you have a very small dog? If the chickens will only be out in the daytime, you might have to worry about hawks.

You seem to have plenty of room and certainly a high enough fence, so I think it should work out well.

 

[crankster76]

Im doing basically the same thing. I fenced off a area ,wooded, and used the trees and a few poles. made mine 10 ft tall and used sheet metal to band the trees to keep predators from climbing over. buried the bottom of the fence and used alot of old glass to help fill in the fence line. should,I hope, keep the predators out.