Free range yard and cattle panel.

[Marco and Mary]

Thought: We have a roll of 4 foot snow fence lying around. They don't fly over, it's 4 foot. Cheep, Cheep. Of course you'll need a good dog or two to stay with them 24/7.
I decided to purchase the electric/solar panels as there are foxes, skunks and coyotes in our area. I was hoping to find something less costly but I don't think it can be avoided.

This is an awesome idea! HD also sells that orange or green plastic utility fence ... that could also work. Why didn't I think of that!

 

[Blooie]

The issue with plastic snow fences is that unless you have posts spaced fairly close together, the top sags a bit. Mine discovered that "sag" in no time at all, and were soon sitting on it, just admiring the scenery. Their weight caused it to sag more. (large Brahmas) In less time that it took to type it, they went from sitting on it to landing on it and the hopping right over into the area the fence was supposed to keep them out of! <sigh>

 

[Marco and Mary]

The snow fence idea got me looking into what our farm hardware store carries and I think I found just the thing. 14 gage wire fencing 5' tall 100' roll ... $146CDN. Fence spacing is 4"x2" ... So smaller than the Cattle panel. This should work and save me a ton. If I used snow fence or safety fence (equally cheap) I would strap some 1 or 2" PVC or 2x2 lumber to the top to give it some rigity. I believe the safety fence (also available in green) is more rigid than the snow fence.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

This depends a lot on the individual birds. I had a small flock of Wyandottes and I added a Mutt Rooster from CL.

After I integrated the roo into the flock and gave him time to get used to his new home, I let them all out to free range. I came outside a 1/2hr later to find the roo perched on top of our 6ft tall run. This roo was a much lighter bodied bird than the wyandottes, so I assumed that is what allowed him to fly up that high. I had never had a problem with the wyandottes getting up there.

So if you have egg laying breeds you could have more problems than if you had Dual purpose birds with their heavier bodies.

It also depends on if the grass is greener on the other side! As a previous poster said if they have food/water/treats within the fenced area there's no reason for them to try and get out.(or at least less reason)

 

[Huggerlady]

Hubby n I put up a new snow fence area today. So far so good! I have a new young trio who came from a bad farm. People have found out Ill rescue, went from 8 to 36 this Month. First time on grass for them so no need to fly the Coop