Fencing for Chickens?

[Whistling Badger]

I'm worried about predators and I thought getting our chicks some basic sword fighting lessons might be the ticket.

OK, not really.

How high does fencing need to be for chickens (Wyandottes in my case, hopefully) to stay put? Will they stay put behind 3 feet tall of woven wire, or will they just fly over it?

I plan on building an enclosure 50x75' for the chickens to share with a couple dairy goats, and I will probably let them free range most days in the summer. Goat fence has to be pretty tall and pretty stout, so I'm planning on five-foot tall barbed wire, with woven wire or chicken wire (whichever I can scrounge cheaper) around the base.

Thanks for the help!

 

[poopcoop]

I used a 5 foot welded wire that I got from Home Depot it costs around $100 for 100 feet and buried the bottom 6 inches and I use a solar powered Electric fence that I got from Harbor Freight $60.00. It works well and have had no problems.

Ray

 

[arlee453]

When they are young even heavy breeds like SLWs will fly over 3' fence. When they get full grown, unless they are very spooked or tempted, they won't go over my 4' fence.

Plus, all sorts of preds can easily get over a 3' fence... I'd go at least 4 ft and if you are really paranoid, cover the run too.

I used PVC pipes attaached around the top of the run and covered with bird/deer netting to keep my guys in their run area.

 

[Whistling Badger]

I can't cover the run because it's so big, plus I'm guessing the goats wouldn't like it...might keep 'em from jumping the fence, though. Hmmm...now you've got me thinking...

T

 

[dacjohns]

Better do some research on goat fencing first. I don't think barbed wire with woven or chicken wire will work for goats. You really need fencing designed for goats. Goats can climb and if they can get their head through a hole they will try to get the rest of their body through. They also like to put their front hooves up like they are trying to stand on their back legs.

After the goats are taken care of then whatever it takes to keep the chickens in. I would lean towards a welded wire fence material that has small openings at the bottom that gradually increases in size as they go towards the top of the fence. I don't think 3 feet of fence will deter the chickens much.