Hello All!
I'm still fairly new to chickens, and we just have three hens that aren't quite laying eggs yet. They have a predator-proof run and coop in our backyard which is almost an acre entirely fenced in though only with a four foot fence. I sometimes take them on little field trips through the yard, but I've been hesitant to give them full access to the backyard for a few reasons. I really, really don't want them to get over the fence. We back up to a graveyard on one side, and I definitely don't want to chase my chickens through a funeral service. Also, while they would be safe behind the fence, some of our neighbors let their dogs run loose on the other side. They rarely come this way, but I don't really want my little girlies flaunting themselves as tasty little morsels for them. I've been thinking about clipping their feathers and hoping that will do it, but there are also several areas in the back I'd rather them not go (garden areas, etc). Anyway, I was thinking of building a fence for them within our fence. Maybe out of something flimsier and more temporary so I could change it up often and give them access to new places in the yard. Because I don't really worry about predators in the yard and I would be enclosing them in their sturdier run/coop in the evening time, would it be stupid to section off parts of the yard with bird netting? That way I can give them more freedom without full access to the entire yard? Would stakes in the ground surrounded by bird netting be enough to keep them in without it being too permanent of a structure? Has anyone done that? Or is the idea completely off base?
I'm still fairly new to chickens, and we just have three hens that aren't quite laying eggs yet. They have a predator-proof run and coop in our backyard which is almost an acre entirely fenced in though only with a four foot fence. I sometimes take them on little field trips through the yard, but I've been hesitant to give them full access to the backyard for a few reasons. I really, really don't want them to get over the fence. We back up to a graveyard on one side, and I definitely don't want to chase my chickens through a funeral service. Also, while they would be safe behind the fence, some of our neighbors let their dogs run loose on the other side. They rarely come this way, but I don't really want my little girlies flaunting themselves as tasty little morsels for them. I've been thinking about clipping their feathers and hoping that will do it, but there are also several areas in the back I'd rather them not go (garden areas, etc). Anyway, I was thinking of building a fence for them within our fence. Maybe out of something flimsier and more temporary so I could change it up often and give them access to new places in the yard. Because I don't really worry about predators in the yard and I would be enclosing them in their sturdier run/coop in the evening time, would it be stupid to section off parts of the yard with bird netting? That way I can give them more freedom without full access to the entire yard? Would stakes in the ground surrounded by bird netting be enough to keep them in without it being too permanent of a structure? Has anyone done that? Or is the idea completely off base?
