Newbie here looking for more advice and help . . .

I hear ya! Thank you!! Can't hardly wait for spring so I can really "see" where I want the girls. Where they are now is temporary, but even still, I feel they need roaming room! Spring is still a good 4 months away

I think what you have now will work until spring... but yes, chickens will likely try to fly out at some point.... but seeing as it’s a big extension off of where they were before, it should keep them happy for a while.

I don’t think I’d put netting over the top with the fencing so short... yes, it could help keep hawks out, but unless you had some sort of center post, it will sag in the middle. With netting only about 3 feet off the ground, a chicken might decide to try to fly and get tangled... and I’m sure the last thing you’d want would be for a chicken to die tangled in a net that was supposed to protect them.

Like I said, this likely fine until the ground thaws. But getting some fence posts(even if it’s just T-posts) and taller fencing would be a really good idea. The t posts are cheap and easy to drive in with a t post driver. I have a temporary run that looks a lot Iike yours that I use for juvenile chickens, if I need them out of the way for working on the coop or run. It’s T posts and the same fencing you use, but i got the 5’ fencing. The t posts don’t even need to be as tall as the fencing, it just helps keep everything sturdy.
 
If you pull it tight and secure it to the fencing sagging isn't a problem.
Small carbiners work really well for that and they're easy on and off since op is just using the enclosure temporarily.
But netting is absolutely necessary, hawks see an uncovered enclosure as a boxed lunch.:)
I think what you have now will work until spring... but yes, chickens will likely try to fly out at some point.... but seeing as it’s a big extension off of where they were before, it should keep them happy for a while.

I don’t think I’d put netting over the top with the fencing so short... yes, it could help keep hawks out, but unless you had some sort of center post, it will sag in the middle. With netting only about 3 feet off the ground, a chicken might decide to try to fly and get tangled... and I’m sure the last thing you’d want would be for a chicken to die tangled in a net that was supposed to protect them.

Like I said, this likely fine until the ground thaws. But getting some fence posts(even if it’s just T-posts) and taller fencing would be a really good idea. The t posts are cheap and easy to drive in with a t post driver. I have a temporary run that looks a lot Iike yours that I use for juvenile chickens, if I need them out of the way for working on the coop or run. It’s T posts and the same fencing you use, but i got the 5’ fencing. The t posts don’t even need to be as tall as the fencing, it just helps keep everything sturdy.
 
If you pull it tight and secure it to the fencing sagging isn't a problem.
Small carbiners work really well for that and they're easy on and off since op is just using the enclosure temporarily.
But netting is absolutely necessary, hawks see an uncovered enclosure as a boxed lunch.:)

Oh I definitely know... I lost two this fall to a hawk attack. One in the run and one in the coop. We have netting now, but if I didn’t have high fences my birds would have likely gotten tangled.

My concern with pulling it right is that I don’t think she had any fence posts... it’s hard to tell from the picture, but there doesn’t seem to be anything bracing the fencing. And with her stating the ground is frozen, I don’t think she’d be able to get them in right now. But that’s why I recommended t posts. Easier to drive. Pulling the netting tight on the fencing with no posts to support it could cause it to want to fold inward, which would also not be desirable.

So that was my train of thought... not that netting isn’t necessary, but it might now work well with her current setup.
 
Oh I definitely know... I lost two this fall to a hawk attack. One in the run and one in the coop. We have netting now, but if I didn’t have high fences my birds would have likely gotten tangled.

My concern with pulling it right is that I don’t think she had any fence posts... it’s hard to tell from the picture, but there doesn’t seem to be anything bracing the fencing. And with her stating the ground is frozen, I don’t think she’d be able to get them in right now. But that’s why I recommended t posts. Easier to drive. Pulling the netting tight on the fencing with no posts to support it could cause it to want to fold inward, which would also not be desirable.

So that was my train of thought... not that netting isn’t necessary, but it might now work well with her current setup.

I did just think about this though, whether you add netting or not, you could always clip their wing feathers. That would prevent them from flying out of the 4ft fence! If you’re planning on free ranging, it limits their ability to escape predators, but I think you said you were concerned about free ranging anyways. And flight feather grow back, so if you changed your mind, just don’t trim them again!
 
Ya! That's what I was afraid of!! Check out my new post in the forum as I am re-learning computer too!

My daughter thinks I would be okay to just let them roam. However I saw 2 coyote's the other day down my driveway and across the street but still they are about!! We live in the country, so predators are a main concern. I have no eyes on the girls, meaning I can't see them from my kitchen or living room. They are up by my garage, no widow unless I sit in my spear bedroom watching them and that just isn't convenient
I free range a flock with many predators around yet have very minimal losses. If you choose to do so too, there are 3 things that i would recommend.
1. Make your coop as difficult for a predator to enter as possible. Nothing is "predator proof" so get that out of your head. A determined bear, for example will tear your car apart to get the snickers bar you left inside if its big enough. So a wooden coop is nothing. But, most predators give up if they find it too difficult and move on.
Most predator attacks are at night so a secure coop will stop most attacks.
2. Do you have a dog? If so, train the dog to be around the chickens as often as possible or at least periodically throughout the day. It doesn't matter how big or small the dog is. The scent it leaves behind tells predators that there is danger around and helps deter daylight attacks.

If no dog, increase as much daylight outdoor activity as possible so again predators perceive risk and choose to return at night when birdsare safe inside the coop.

3. What is your level of acceptable risk? Free ranging chickens has many benefits but it comes with inherent risk. Despite all the efforts in #1 &#2 a determined coyote may come through, clever raccoon, or an attack in broad daylight from a bold fox may happen. Are you prepared to accept the fact that you may lose a bird or two or all of them along the way?

I lose an avg of 1 bird a year. Every attack has occurred in broad daylight either before i got my dog or when i took him with me to run errands all day and no one was around. My coop has never been breached. Knock on wood.

Free ranging benefits far out weigh the risk, as far as im concerned, but if you can't stand the thought of losing a bird, especially in the beginning as you feel things out, then a run and secure coop may be the best route to start on
 
I hear ya! Thank you!! Can't hardly wait for spring so I can really "see" where I want the girls. Where they are now is temporary, but even still, I feel they need roaming room! Spring is still a good 4 months away
Yes, covering the fence with netting is very important. We've had dogs come into our yard and get to our chickens even with a fence, mainly because one flew out of the maybe 3'5" fence. Cover it with wire!!
 
I also free range my flock, and have had occasional single birds lost to raptors. I've also had a mid-day fox attack, who killed ten nice laying hens. And our worst, a fence failure that let one of our rescue dogs kill over twenty birds in an hour!
Raccoons and opossums killed our birds at night, long ago, before we had a safe coop, and one spring rats got into that coop and killed three nice bantams at night.
Predator protection is an ongoing story!
Mary
 
I free range a flock with many predators around yet have very minimal losses. If you choose to do so too, there are 3 things that i would recommend.
1. Make your coop as difficult for a predator to enter as possible. Nothing is "predator proof" so get that out of your head. A determined bear, for example will tear your car apart to get the snickers bar you left inside if its big enough. So a wooden coop is nothing. But, most predators give up if they find it too difficult and move on.
Most predator attacks are at night so a secure coop will stop most attacks.
2. Do you have a dog? If so, train the dog to be around the chickens as often as possible or at least periodically throughout the day. It doesn't matter how big or small the dog is. The scent it leaves behind tells predators that there is danger around and helps deter daylight attacks.

If no dog, increase as much daylight outdoor activity as possible so again predators perceive risk and choose to return at night when birdsare safe inside the coop.

3. What is your level of acceptable risk? Free ranging chickens has many benefits but it comes with inherent risk. Despite all the efforts in #1 &#2 a determined coyote may come through, clever raccoon, or an attack in broad daylight from a bold fox may happen. Are you prepared to accept the fact that you may lose a bird or two or all of them along the way?

I lose an avg of 1 bird a year. Every attack has occurred in broad daylight either before i got my dog or when i took him with me to run errands all day and no one was around. My coop has never been breached. Knock on wood.

Free ranging benefits far out weigh the risk, as far as im concerned, but if you can't stand the thought of losing a bird, especially in the beginning as you feel things out, then a run and secure coop may be the best route to start on

I am firmly on team free range, and I will say, I lost 3 birds this year... only one while free ranging. The other two were killed by a hawk. One in the run, and the second the hawk entered through the chicken door. But I totally understand a persons desire not to want to free range and have more control over the situation. And losing one chicken, in a smaller flock like hers, seems like a bigger deal than losing one in a larger flock
 

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