It's been a long time since I've been here but I'm starting to plan again. My major plans for the spring and summer are to start fencing in our untouched 16 acre property, starting with one small area at a time. I have the plans for my sheep/goat pasture already drawn up and planned out (we start buying fencing materials this month) but the next permanent pasture will be my 'barnyard' which will mostly contain future chickens (and my ducks will move in temporarily until their permanent pasture/pond gets built.)
soooo, I'm wanting something dual purpose that will contain the sheep, goats, horses and maybe even an occasional cow/calf pair when I need to rotate or contain but mostly be a very large permanent home for the chickens.
I have read here that people use chain link for chicken runs. I dislike chain link for a variety of reasons and I'm not going to do a chicken run per se, but they'll free range the entire barn yard all day, everyday with a coop at night. Would a 2x4 horse fence be just as sufficent as chain link? I really don't want to string more than one wire, for one it looks tacky and secondly I find that putting chicken wire over the other wire is difficult, time consuming AND the goats tear the chicken wire making it even less attractive and potentially dangerous for horses. A 2x4 wire definitely contains my small 10lbs terriers (only one of which will probably be an issue for chicken safety) and to be honest I think is narrower than a chain link...but I never read about people using this for chickens.
My sheep/goat pens will have this fencing http://www.staytuff.com/products/livestock/goat specifically the 1348-12 and so far it seems to be sufficient for my horses (all older and not rough on fences) as well. Definitely keeps the Aussies in as their current free play yard/night time goat grazing yard is built out of this, and the terriers choose to go through the wider cattle panels that make up one side of this yard rather than to go through this fencing but I'm not sure it will stop one of them.
Aside from a standard 2x4 fencing, my other option is the 1348-3 in this same, staytuff fencing which gets pricey but has a 3x3 spacing at the bottom and should be sufficient for the smallest of my dogs as well (also a plus if I need to contain them in the barnyard for an unknown reason.) If ya'll think the 3x3 fence will work for adult chickens then the chickens just got an extra restaurant to dine in occasionally...my front yard! as this is what it will be fenced in with...eventually when we're finished fencing in homes for all the critters
sooo.... Which would you choose and do you think it will safely hold adult chickens? No worries on the bebe's, after they are old enough to leave the brooder, I have a much smaller pen I can raise youngsters in that is triple lined, lol. I have a 30x32ft pen that currently houses my ducks with cattle panel on top of a wooden fence with chicken wire run on top of that can keep the babies safe until it's time to turn 'em loose in the barn yard.
soooo, I'm wanting something dual purpose that will contain the sheep, goats, horses and maybe even an occasional cow/calf pair when I need to rotate or contain but mostly be a very large permanent home for the chickens.
I have read here that people use chain link for chicken runs. I dislike chain link for a variety of reasons and I'm not going to do a chicken run per se, but they'll free range the entire barn yard all day, everyday with a coop at night. Would a 2x4 horse fence be just as sufficent as chain link? I really don't want to string more than one wire, for one it looks tacky and secondly I find that putting chicken wire over the other wire is difficult, time consuming AND the goats tear the chicken wire making it even less attractive and potentially dangerous for horses. A 2x4 wire definitely contains my small 10lbs terriers (only one of which will probably be an issue for chicken safety) and to be honest I think is narrower than a chain link...but I never read about people using this for chickens.
My sheep/goat pens will have this fencing http://www.staytuff.com/products/livestock/goat specifically the 1348-12 and so far it seems to be sufficient for my horses (all older and not rough on fences) as well. Definitely keeps the Aussies in as their current free play yard/night time goat grazing yard is built out of this, and the terriers choose to go through the wider cattle panels that make up one side of this yard rather than to go through this fencing but I'm not sure it will stop one of them.
Aside from a standard 2x4 fencing, my other option is the 1348-3 in this same, staytuff fencing which gets pricey but has a 3x3 spacing at the bottom and should be sufficient for the smallest of my dogs as well (also a plus if I need to contain them in the barnyard for an unknown reason.) If ya'll think the 3x3 fence will work for adult chickens then the chickens just got an extra restaurant to dine in occasionally...my front yard! as this is what it will be fenced in with...eventually when we're finished fencing in homes for all the critters

sooo.... Which would you choose and do you think it will safely hold adult chickens? No worries on the bebe's, after they are old enough to leave the brooder, I have a much smaller pen I can raise youngsters in that is triple lined, lol. I have a 30x32ft pen that currently houses my ducks with cattle panel on top of a wooden fence with chicken wire run on top of that can keep the babies safe until it's time to turn 'em loose in the barn yard.