is 4' fence tall enough for layers?

[JacobMaxwell]

I'm thinking of letting my hens free range on my cattle pasture, but I'm not sure if the standard 4' electric poultry netting will contain some of my lighter layers. Does anybody have some experience with this?

 

[farnorth]

my run has 6 foot fence on 3 sides but on one side we just had 4 foot tall chicken wire. They never flew over it. Some breeds would...... but most layers won't, I never even saw them try. One did learn how to squeeze under though.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I'm thinking of letting my hens free range on my cattle pasture, but I'm not sure if the standard 4' electric poultry netting will contain some of my lighter layers. Does anybody have some experience with this?

My run is about 4 ft high. If you clip the feathers on one wing of each bird it will help.

Make sure there is no blood in the shaft of the feather before you clip or your bird may bleed to death.

On some birds you may even have to clip a few secondary flight feathers.

One wing throws the bird off balance and is more effective than trimming equal amounts off both wings.

 

[Primo]

My big layers (buff orpingtons) can easily go over the 4 foot fence around my yard if they really wanted to. One night I forgot to open the coop up before dusk, and to my surprise they all flew up over the fence into a cedar tree about 7' off the ground. If they see a safe perch right above the fence, such as a top rail or tree limb, They will get right up to the fence , flap their wings, and walk right up it. I would think that electric fencing would prevent this.
I guess it depends on how light your birds are. I now have a stray game hen who escaped from someone else and has taken up residence in my yard during the day. At night it flies up into a large pecan tree off my property about 15 feet up.
I think it really depends on how content they are with their surroundings and food and shelter. While I know my birds could fly the fence of my 1 acre yard anytime the wanted, they never do.