Overhead predator protection?

[ephiemarie]

One of last summer’s quarantine boredom projects was my woven garden fence. Since the area doesn’t get enough sun to grow a decent garden, I’m thinking of putting my coop inside the fenced area and using the space as a chicken play yard. I can line the interior of the fence with buried hardware cloth and still maintain the overall aesthetic, but I can’t figure out the best way to provide protection from overhead predators, which would be the primary daytime threat in our area. I used bird netting over my nearby turkey pen, but that stuff is atrocious to work with, and the garden fence is too short to allow human headroom if I went that route. Advice needed!

While I don’t plan to have a rooster, my turkey hen (who would live about 20’ away from the chickens) is an excellent predator alarm bird. Could I string up some length of line with pie tins or CDs? Or maybe several parallel strands of solar fairy lights? Or could the predatory birds still swoop down between the strings and steal my girls?

 

[little chick-y baby mama]

If your that determined, you could buy tons of chicken wire and secure it on the top

 

[LeeWren]

I have a wattle fence like yours and also lots of hawks, kestrels, and peregrines even though I live in the middle of a large city. The wattle fence can provide some protection if there's some depth to it or maybe you could build out one corner with branches that overhang but what you really need are some brambly bushes the hens can flee to -- I have gooseberries along one side of my fence. A lot more aesthetic than CDs which I don't think bother raptors at all. Gooseberries actually grow well in pots so you could move them around but anything with thorns the chickens could get underneath, like blackberries or rose bushes would work. My hens also will run into their coop if they spot a hawk and are on that side of the yard (which the the Queen hen is in charge of doing as I don't have roosters). But I once found a young hawk inside the coop run! It was totally freaked out. The chickens were hiding elsewhere so how and why it got in there I don't know -- maybe chasing a sparrow.

 

[Sheepheart]

Having lots of shiny moving things will keep the predictors out as long as they arnt super fixed on getting chicken. You would also probably have to change out what your using because they will get used to it over time and come to the idea that it can do nothing to them and start ignoring or. I think your best bet would be to cover the area with a mesh roof of some sort.

edit: with having the mesh roof you would also have the potential of growing some viney plants to keep the natural athstetic

 

[Vicker]

I wouldn't bother with hanging anything up. You could provide something low to the ground that the chickens can run underneath if a hawk flies over. I've posted before that I put a lifelike crow decoy on my fence and one on the ground. Crows in my area chase hawks away, so they avoid my chicken yard now. Plus, I added some solid black chickens after learning about hawk aversion to them if they've been harassed by crows.

 

[Kirkwooder]

If you can get your hands on several discarded Christmas trees you could stand them up in the area. They work better than the CD's and tin pie plates, which are really not very effective. The trees make it hard for a bird of prey to dive on a hen from any distance, and provide a measure of cover for your hens.

An owl decoy is always over my run somewhere, though I change it's location every couple days to keep it more lifelike.

 

[BDutch]

CD’s and such work only temporary.

I would make a few high poles in the run and buy cat netting instead of bird netting. The poles give you a good hight and the cat netting is quite easy to handle (compared to bird netting) and gives great protection against birds of pray.
https://www.zooplus.com/shop/cats/cat_flaps_nets/cat_nets/cat_nets/127597
This is a EU supplier, you probably have to find another supplier.