Fence the top or not?

[HELPPLS]

Hello everyone! We want to fence the top of our run to keep the chickens from flying out of it. It is going to be 16x16 total with the coop being 8x8 of it. Will wild birds land on top of the fence and poo inside and make our chickens sick? Is there a way to avoid this problem? Its only going to be 7 ft tall and I hear they can fly over that. Our dogs may kill them so they have to be kept in to stay safe. We plan to build a PVC run for during the day in nice weather but they won't get to use it every day. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Folly's place]

My run has a chicken wire top, to keep the hawks out. You can use netting or wire, or actually roof it. Wild birds will find a way; huge commercial flocks are totally isolated, but small farm flocks aren't. I free range, so contact with wild songbirds is a given. Lice and mites come in, and are treated as necessary. The covered run is fairly safe, but they are locked in the very secure coop every night. Predator protection is #1! Mary

 

[HELPPLS]

Thank you. Our chickens wont be free range but they will be moved around. I was told to use DE for stuff like lice and mites. We will see if that works. Thank you for your response.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

We are going to put fencing on the top. We have Bald Eagles & Golden Eagles They will eat my chickies

 

[MoonShadows]

We have 4 x 2 welded wire fencing on top to keep the predators out and the chickens in.

 

[Effielin]

I am new to this chicken stuff and yesterday we moved our chickens outside. I had not finished putting fencing on the top but had to run to meet someone. I was gone an hour and came home to see my four chicks running down the road.. and I live in the inner city!! We managed to find 3 out of the 4.. I am assuming we have lost the one for good though I keep hoping she will show up. There was no sign of any predator attack... I think they just FLEW the COOP... Obviouisly, we finished putting the "roof" on and reinforced in general and this morning my three remaining chicks were still safely there, but I am really sad about the one we lost. From here on out I am a BIG fan of roofs on the runs.