Fence Height

[turkeyman]

I am going to start on a new yard for my chickens but I am going to fence it in. I was wondering what high i should make my fence. I was thinking four foot but I have seen my black sex-linked hens setting ontop of there fence inside the chicken run witch is six feet. If the new yard was big enough would they stay in or not?

 

[cheryl98117]

Quote:
Wether they stay in or not all depends on the chicken. My leghorns like to wander and will go over the 6' fence if not covered. My yard is 25'x45' with 6' tall fencing. If you are worried about your birds getting out I would sudgest covering with bird netting.

The hight of the fence if covered would depend on IF you wanted to be able to walk into the run, "and not kill your back from stooping." If you dont want to cover the run, then you may have to deal with a wanderer like I do.

I'm interested in reading what others have to say on this though.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I'ved had to top my 6ft fence with another 2 ft that leans in to prevent them from jumping on top then over. For some reason the the lean in prevents them.

I have one chicken named Houdina because she can get out of anything

 

[jubylives]

All I have is 3ft chicken wire. Predators are not a real issue here although they are around. I've never had a chicken try to go over the fence. I have had them go under. They will be pecking along and find a weak spot and push their way through. Mine are too fat to get over anyway but mostly they don't seem interested in leaving.

jeremy

 

[gottsegnet]

We have a section of our yard fenced. We have a 6 foot privacy fence on two sides, the house on one and 3 foot poultry wire on the other. We've only had this set up for about a week, but they haven't tried to get out yet.

I wonder if it is something like goats in that a lot of it depends on what is on the other side of the fence?

Their run area is about 300 sq ft with lots of stuff...a pile of dirt, a wagon and a baby slide they alternately hide under or perch on, an old garden filled w/ pumice, lots of grass and weeds, a bush and some kind of a daisy they seem to like to sit in.

On the other side of the fence is just mowed grass. Not very interesting.

It is no good for predators, but then we only let them out when we are home and going in and out.

I was a little concerned about the leghorn because I've heard they are flighty. She is the hardest to catch, but she likes her buddies and they are a little more sedentary (a Rhode Island Red, austrolorp, and a red sex link).

 

[Peepspeare]

I don't know, but I was wondering the same thing. We have six foot privacy fence on one side, and standard chain link (four foot?) on the other, and I was wondering if I could let chickens free range with that set up. I'm planning on getting a couple of buff orpingtons and perhaps a black australorp or two-- I was thinking since they're all "heavy" that they wouldn't try the chain link. Any orpington/australorp owners care to weigh in?

 

[gottsegnet]

We have an australorp that is three months and has made no attempt to fly over the three foot poultry mesh. She will fly on top of her coop which is four foot high and from there on top of the shed which is eight foot, but she just seems to want a place to look around.

 

[lux_interior]

I think 5 feet is plenty... if they get out, or youre worried about them getting out, you can clip their longest flight feather, and they won't be able to fly as high