I am planning on creating a fenced in run for my flock. I will have Buff Orpingtons, Welsummers, and Buckeyes in the run. Can anyone suggest the minimum height and type fence that will successfully contain these breeds. I do not plan on clipping their wings.
Will you have the run covered with netting over the top? If not, probably five or six feet. But it is hard to say; I've had chickens fly up to seven or eight feet more than once. If you are doing netting over the top, make it tall enough so you can comfortably walk in, because you'll be spending a lot more time in there than you think!
Unless there are bushes in your run, confining the chickens but leaving the top open for hawks will make it far too easy for the hawks. You can get plastic "deer fence" at Home Depot pretty cheap to put over the top. Certainly cheaper than the metal fencing you would need to build up the side walls. Plus, if you go in, it is easier on your head to contact loose plastic fence/netting than rigid metal. So, you could probably get by with 4' high, with netting. If you are going to make it predator proof (netting is hawk proof, but not raccoon proof), then make it tall enough to work in. Even if you don't plan to go in, you will probably have to at some point.
Quote:At this time I am not planning on covering the run. If I have hawk issues, I may decide to cover. I am going to put a "cover" area in the middle of the run.
