How high is high enough... leghorns, penedesencas, and other flyers

[babyblue]

the leghorns we had were a very very nasty hatchery strain as well. as in flap and crawl up the 6 foot fence to come and get you. therefor they are not my fav birds. and the sad part is they showed up on our doorstep because my nephews embreology progect hatched a little too well so a whole bunch of new to chicken people with small chicken got some crazy nasty chickens.

 

[tnchickenut]

Ew. These are hatchery too... I hope they aren't mean. My mother wants to have the joys of chickens, but lives in the city. I have her garden here, her fruit trees here, her goats here, and now I better not have mean chickens here. Oh, who am I kidding? I love having them all here, but seriously... I will get rid of a mean bird. They hopped the fence to get you!??! Hens!?!?!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I have a plain old hatchery leghorn. She is not mean. She is really fast. How big is this run? Depending on how big the run is, you can cover it with netting or sunshade cloth... I really like the sunshade cloth, you can get it at home improvement stores. You can lace it together with zip ties to make it really big, and it lets some light through. Good defense against hawks, too.

 

[tnchickenut]

the run will be 40ft by 40ft... they also will be allowed out of it and in the yard when it's possible with my schedule. I'm worried mostly about the fence for the perimeter of the property. I was going to go with cheaper 4ft high, but then thought... "oh, no! The leghorns and Penny!" (my penedesenca - one hatched out of 14 - thank God it was a hen)

To make matters worse. The border between me and the dog neighbor is wooded. So fencing it is already a challenge, but any advice on chicken proofing the trees?!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I think you will have to just try putting them in the run and seeing how they behave. Your chickens may just be content and stay in the yard. I free range my hens in my yard, and they never go over the 6 foot fence or into the trees. But, some chickens are more inclined to wander than others. Also, most want to stay with the flock, so it may depend on the hen that is the flock leader. if she wants to leave, others may follow her. You won't know until you try it.

 

[tnchickenut]

You know... I didnt' even think of that... you are right... they would stay with the leader. Maybe I'll have to try to get a dominant fat ground bird to be in the flock. Maybe a Jersey Giant... which a have a few of also. The problem is finding the dominant one before it's too late. I think maybe a privacy fence on that one side, then 5 ft. livestock fence the rest of the way around. Is that tacky? I was planning on dressing up the front side facing the road with split rail in front. Anyways, that is besides the point, really. lol

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I do think this works. I think most fence that chickens fly over has a "goal"...a bar or "top" to the fence. I've read that if wire fence has no such "goal" that chickens can't really tell where the fence ends (how high it goes). The wire I use to protect my blueberry bushes is only two feet tall, and my chickens have never attempted to get over that wire. They've also never tried to fly over our 4 ft. field fence. That includes my EE, who HAS flown to the top of my run (6 ft. tall) to escape the rooster that was tormenting her. But she could see the top of the run, because it's in wooden panels.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
Some heavies might do the trick to keep your girls grounded.... As for the livestock fence/privacy fence combo, I think it sounds fine. I have climbing roses on part of my henhouse. If you want to dress up your fence, perhapes a nice climbing vine or rosebush?

 

[tnchickenut]

yeah, I think you are right about the "goal" and don't tempt me to get more plants!!! I'm always looking for more! I could put all sorts of things on that side!

I guess I could trim the trees along that side to help keep the branches out of reach.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I don't know if you could grow this rose in TN, but I have one called a Banks rose (you can pick white or pink flowers), and it grows fast and covers a lot of fence. Like about 10 feet in either direction from where you plant it. You want more plants.....You want more chickens....