How high a fence to keep hens out of veggie garden?

[RenoHuskerDu]

Howdy, I hope this is the correct forum. I searched and only found dead old threads from 2014.

We have 9 laying hens, 1 old maid, and 1 lazy rooster. It's time to plan our veggie garden. In Texas, if you wait too late, you get sun-dried dead veggies.

I've never seen our chickens fly higher than about 3' - when they are flustered. Do you reckon 4' is high enough for a light plastic fence, to keep them from going in to eat our veggies? TractorSupply has this https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...y-fence-1-3-4-in-mesh-bf48100175?cm_vc=-10005

Or should I go up 6' with a light fence? Maybe I'd need to electrify it? I don't see any 6' safety fence for sale yet. Amazon only goes up to 4' for electric fence. https://tinyurl.com/yb7edtda Does anybody have a 6' fence? Maybe that would be overkill....

Thank you!

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

The grass is always greener on the other side, and the chickens will do what they want. Electric is for keeping predators out, not chickens in. I've seen them slip through an electric sheep fence, (the hole are big, but it was electrified) without getting shocked.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Mine will fly out of a 6 foot tall fence. They hate being confined to the run haha.

 

[Ribh]

It is going to depend a bit on what breeds you have. Bigger, heavier birds aren't good fliers. Some breeds are more inclined to be fliers than others. A wing clip helps with some breeds but not others. The only real way to ensure the chickens stay out is to bury your fence in the ground then roof it over!

 

[CannedMonster]

You could try the 4’ electric.
Mine are generally confined by our 4’ chain link fence but can go over it if the want what’s on the other side.
I bought mostly heavy breeds because they tend to not go over fences as much. Especially higher fences.
This year I plan on planting close to the house where we get the most sun and fence it in narrow strips so it’s too narrow for them to be able to get in there easily.
It probably won’t work...
You could also install roller bars at the top of a 4’ fence to keep them out
String some cables and put pvc pipe through them so it rolls when they try to land on it.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Howdy, I hope this is the correct forum. I searched and only found dead old threads from 2014.

We have 9 laying hens, 1 old maid, and 1 lazy rooster. It's time to plan our veggie garden. In Texas, if you wait too late, you get sun-dried dead veggies.

I've never seen our chickens fly higher than about 3' - when they are flustered. Do you reckon 4' is high enough for a light plastic fence, to keep them from going in to eat our veggies? TractorSupply has this https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...y-fence-1-3-4-in-mesh-bf48100175?cm_vc=-10005

Or should I go up 6' with a light fence? Maybe I'd need to electrify it? I don't see any 6' safety fence for sale yet. Amazon only goes up to 4' for electric fence. https://tinyurl.com/yb7edtda Does anybody have a 6' fence? Maybe that would be overkill....

Thank you!

The 4' fencing you linked is similar to what I used to keep mine out of the garden.

The only problem I ran into was bunnies chewed through in a couple places and yes my hens found those holes.
I think a weed eater would do similar damage.

The height worked to keep them from going over.

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

These birds have a couple acres in which to range. We'd just be fencing off a veggie garden in there. So they still have all the rest.

We have the following breeds:

• Rhone Island Red
• Sagitta
• Golden Comet
• Easter Egger
• Marans
• Faverolles

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's not so much the height of the fence, it's convincing them that they "can't" get over it. So a more flexible fence material is the better choice as they can't easily land on it and have to fly over in one go, and most chickens don't do that. So the orange stuff you linked should be fine, or chicken wire is what I usually use.

I only do 2', maybe 3', of chicken wire as I want to be able to access the garden easily.

Obviously if a chicken figures out it can get in, you might need to raise it a bit, or drape over a little lightweight netting, so they try, can't get in, and don't want to try again.

Most of the above comments are more about containing chickens, not keeping them out of something. They're not quite the same thing...

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

My heavy RIRs still make it over the 6 foot fence. They usually free range and I use a 4 foot tall orange construction plastic fence. They don’t like how it waves I guess.

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

Thanks, everyone!