My husband thinks the fence/coop doesn't need a roof!?!?!?

Gingertoots

In the Brooder
8 Years
May 18, 2011
16
0
22
I have 9 chicks and my husband has decided to fence in like a 1/4 acre. Then, he has explained to me that there doesn't need to be a roof. Really??? Aren't they going to fly away? I got my chicks for free when I bought a bag of feed from some place... I think they are a mix of rhode island reds and white rock.. I know NOTHING about chickens.. Any advice??
 
how high is the fence? Chickens can fly pretty high. Also, you need to protect them from predators. Hawks can get them from above and other things can dig under or crawl over the fence. You need to consider what kinds of predators you have in the area and decide how much risk you want to take.

Read as much as you can on this forum, it is a great place to learn. Here is what we did for our chickens that we got 10 weeks ago.

PS - I also knew nothing about chickens, I read here daily and bought the chickens for dummies book.

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Well it'd be a gigantic project to PUT a top on a 1/4 acre area ANYhow
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Without it, yes there is the possibility of hawk attack, that's just the way it goes. Provide cover objects the chickens can duck under if they sense a hawk heading towards them (picnic table, bushes, brush piles, etc), and you will considerably improve their odds of survival; but, it just IS a tradeoff to some degree, between freedom and risk.

They CAN fly over a 4' fence, but whether they WILL depends on their whims at any given moment. Generally if there is plenty of appealing things for them to do inside the fenced area, they won't bother. And once they know where their feeder and coop are, they are not going to stray too far unless you give them REASON to. If you do start having trouble with them going 'over the fence' and getting into your garden or suchlike, there are things you can do to discourage it (they don't always work, but they often do) -- wing-clipping, or making a taller extension of the fence witn a hard-to-see topline.

The big thing security-wise is to have somewhere really predatorproof to lock them up every evening.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 
There is a tree so they can hide and eat bugs. I also have two goats and they have been pretty safe so far.. I know I have fox somewhere.
 
The fence is 6 ft...I do not have electric out there though. I live near the coast in virginia, and already am worried about winter...
 
We let our girls free range on our 1/2acre back yard (fenced with 4ft high livestock) with the door to their coop/run open. Sunday, neighbors dogs found a weak spot in our fence and I lost 2 out of the 4 plus the duck was pretty tore up (she is still healing inside my spare bedroom).

Free range chickens = buffet. It's unfortunate but true. They will be MUCH safer with a roof over their head! I LOVE Pat's run and that was something we were looking at doing so the girls still have room to roam BUT are more safe!

Read the predator forum if you doubt the need for a roof.

Good luck!
 
Quote:
What did you use for ground cover in your pen? How do you like it?

Dont want to hi jack this post, but it is just sand and pea gravel and I love it. If you want more info, PM me and I will be happy to share.
 

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