Fencing Questions

[LuggNutt]

Greetings everyone, new here and new to chickens.

Was given an old coop (I had to take it apart and move it). Its 7.5' X 12.5' and about 8' tall, more of a shed then coop. The walls are sheet metal over wide wood boards. I plan to devide it with an inner wall with the birds haveing 2/3s and using the other 1/3 for storage.

I had planed to use 2" X 4" fencing to wrap the coop and run with 1/4" hardware cloth 2' up on the bottom and 2' into the ground.

The run will be roughly the same size as the coop but not as tall.

Others have suggested that the 2 X 4 fence is too big and I need to use something smaller.

Plan to get between 6 - 10 birds, most likly Buff Orps.

Thoughts and Sugestions please?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I'm not quite picturing the fence . . . 2X4 . . . rails? with wire 2' up? If so how tall would it be and how far apart would the rails be? Of course this would only be predator proof for the 2' at the bottom . . . but maybe you know that and you don't have predators. Buff orps don't fly much . . . but they can fly to the top of a 4' fence.

 

[granmahen]

Quote:
Yeah, and we learned the hard way, if they can fly up to a 4 foot point, they can use that to scale an 8 foot fence. Here, chickie chickie, chickie......

 

[LuggNutt]

The fence has openings that are 2" X 4" and this would extend up to the top of the 5' high walls.

The 1/2" or 1/4" hardware cloth would cover the bottom 2' of the walls.

The Run would have a roof of some sort.

 

[Judy]

It's much easier and just as effective to lay a width of wire on the ground next to the run rather than digging 2'. Needs to be secured to the ground, at least til grass grows up through it, and of course, secured to the bottom of the fence.

 

[MIKE555444]

I have mostly Buff Orpingtons and we used a chain link fence. It is a large run and I would be shocked to see a preditor trying to reach through the wire during the day time and at night they are in the chicken coop on the roost. I only used the chain link with my birds but i'm sure it is diferent for different areas. We did bury the chain link about 6"- 8" all the way around.

 

[mandelyn]

I stopped using large size fencing when I realized how much I was feeding the local birds and chipmunks. Anything larger than 1 in was enough for them to get in, the 2"x4" perfect for sparrows to starlings.

So yeah, I switched over to rabbit wire, and the birds only got free food on free range day when I would sprinkle out some dinner grain before putting them back up for the night.

 

[scogind]

2x4 wire will keep the grown chickens in, but you might not be thinking about chicks at this point. The 2x4 won't keep chicks in, especially bantam chicks like I have. Everyone is right about sparrows getting in. I have Purple Martins in the spring and sparrows are a hazard, so I try to keep the sparrow population to a minimum. I'd prefer "0"...