Interior design

[aart]

So for the run, can you clip wings to keep them flying high enough to get over a fence? Or is fully enclosed the only way to go?

Clipping wings sometimes works, depends on several variables.
How much space and what's in it, how many birds height of fence, etc.

Mesh covered run is great for bird of prey protection, and depending on what kind of materials used, most other predators also, it was the way to go for me due to a lot of hawks around, not wanting them 'free ranging', and not being able chase after escaped birds

There are many ways to keep chickens.
Some depend on purely personal preferences.
Some depend on goals, management techniques, climate, location, predator load, etc, etc, etc.

There's a few good 'rules of thumb', but not many are carved in stone.
You'll need to research all the techniques and decide what is best for your situation and goals.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So 1 nest per hen isn't a requirement? What is a goid ratio? What happens if there are more nests then necessary?

As with most things the greater the larger the nest the greater the capacity. A popular recommendation on here is 12” x 12”, which works pretty well. I once used a cat litter bucket that measured 7-1/2” x 11-1/2”. It was OK for a hen laying eggs but not good for a hen hatching chicks so I retired it. I made my main nests 16” x 16” which was convenient with my stud spacing and the way I framed my nests. I sometimes see three hens sharing one nest with the others empty. One community nest box, a special design, that is 24” x 48” can supposedly handle 25 hens.

You are only planning on 5 to 6 hens. For different reasons I suggest you go with two nests as long as you stay fairly conventional in size. You might be able to get away with one larger nest, maybe not. A second nest gives you some flexibility in managing them, I’m always in favor of more flexibility. If they all decide to lay in one nest, the other stays empty that day. I don’t know of any problems with that.

So for the run, can you clip wings to keep them flying high enough to get over a fence? Or is fully enclosed the only way to go?

Often with chickens it’s not a case of “can” they get out, it’s a case of do they “want” to get out badly enough. Many people would be surprised at how high a fully-grown full-sized chicken can fly if they want to. Even a chicken with a clipped wing can pretty much walk up a fence to a surprising height if they are desperate, say a hen really wants to get away from an amorous rooster or a chicken is losing a pecking order or dominance fight and is trapped against a fence. Wing clipping does work in making it harder for them to fly, it really does, but it is not always a perfect solution.

One common way chickens learn to escape form a run is that they like to perch. If the top of your fence is solid so they can land on it, they just might fly up there for fun. Who knows which side they might hop down on? So if you make your fence with the top wire instead of something solid, they are less likely to fly up there.

A top on it, even deer netting, will stop the chickens from getting out and offers some protection from certain predators. Some people use various types of wire for greater protection. Some people use a solid roof to help with keeping the run dry or to provide shade. Just slope it so the water runs away from your run, not into it. And make it high enough you can comfortably walk under it. If you live where you get ice storms or heavy snows, that weight can pull down a top, including wire or netting. As Aart said there are variables.

I envision your run as being fairly small, at least fairly narrow. Covering it should not be too hard. If you build the sides high enough so you can walk in there comfortably when it is covered, it’s probably high enough to keep your chickens in, especially if the top is not a perch. But some type of covering will give you a surety that they cannot get out, whether wings are clipped or not. Wing feathers grow back every molt, so clipping needs to be repeated.