The Legbar Thread!

[harriedhomemaker]

Rinda - I live in predator central and have only lost one bird to predation. I fixed the problem that caused that (clipped wings of the ones that insist on flying) and haven't lost anyone since.

Since I have a special needs child, I cannot use electric fencing. Instead, we installed 6' tall, 4" welded wire mesh fencing on 8' T-posts. The top of my Legbar pen is covered with gamebird netting and the rest of the pens have 40 lb test fishing line strung across the top. All coops are completely predator-proof and everyone is locked up tight at night.

This kind fencing would work well if you want a permanent, low-maintenance fence. We just keep adding pens as my addiction expands.

 

[Pozees]

Rinda - I live in predator central and have only lost one bird to predation. I fixed the problem that caused that (clipped wings of the ones that insist on flying) and haven't lost anyone since.

Since I have a special needs child, I cannot use electric fencing. Instead, we installed 6' tall, 4" welded wire mesh fencing on 8' T-posts. The top of my Legbar pen is covered with gamebird netting and the rest of the pens have 40 lb test fishing line strung across the top. All coops are completely predator-proof and everyone is locked up tight at night.

This kind fencing would work well if you want a permanent, low-maintenance fence. We just keep adding pens as my addiction expands.

The spacing on your mesh is 4x4"? Maybe I misunderstood, maybe it's 1 or 2" by 4"? I like the ideas you used for the tops of your runs, do you have pictures of how you strung the fishing line? I've heard of it being used like a Maypole to discourage aerial predators, seems like it should work well that way or just strung back and forth across the top of the pens. It should work well in all sorts of weather, too, I would think.

There are worse addictions ...

 

[normanack]

The spacing on your mesh is 4x4"?  Maybe I misunderstood, maybe it's 1 or 2" by 4"?  I like the ideas you used for the tops of your runs, do you have pictures of how you strung the fishing line?  I've heard of it being used like a Maypole to discourage aerial predators, seems like it should work well that way or just strung back and forth across the top of the pens.  It should work well in all sorts of weather, too, I would think.

There are worse addictions ...

Well, I can tell you my experience with fishing line. Some say the shine deters the hawks. Some say it's the appearance of a physical barrier. And others say, strung closely enough, it actually is a physical barrier.
The hawks here disagree. An enormous red-tailed hawk got right through, full speed, like it wasn't there. At that point we had bought out all the nearby Walmarts and had the darned stuff strung every two inches.
So we got a net. It works. Hawk hit the thing and bounced off.
There's a video on youtube somewhere of a hawk flying through ever-smaller spaces. They can contort in mid-air, go through feet-first, whatever it takes.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Well, I can tell you my experience with fishing line. Some say the shine deters the hawks. Some say it's the appearance of a physical barrier. And others say, strung closely enough, it actually is a physical barrier.
The hawks here disagree. An enormous red-tailed hawk got right through, full speed, like it wasn't there. At that point we had bought out all the nearby Walmarts and had the darned stuff strung every two inches.
So we got a net. It works. Hawk hit the thing and bounced off.
There's a video on youtube somewhere of a hawk flying through ever-smaller spaces. They can contort in mid-air, go through feet-first, whatever it takes.

I'm envisioning a hawk bouncing off a net..... but I can't figure out what kind of net you mean? Is this the 4" hole stuff you mentioned earlier?

 

[normanack]

I'm envisioning a hawk bouncing off a net..... but I can't figure out what kind of net you mean?  Is this the 4" hole stuff you mentioned earlier?

This is 1" square-holed poultry netting. The "bounce" was technically better described as bonk, flap. ;-)

 

[1muttsfan]

I got my heavy-duty poultry netting off ebay (they have smaller sizes on offer), and actually watched a hawk bounce right off if as if it were a trampoline - it flew into a tree next to the pen to ponder the situation. Laughed my you-know-what off. Netting is worth every penny.

 

[harriedhomemaker]

The spacing on your mesh is 4x4"? Maybe I misunderstood, maybe it's 1 or 2" by 4"? I like the ideas you used for the tops of your runs, do you have pictures of how you strung the fishing line? I've heard of it being used like a Maypole to discourage aerial predators, seems like it should work well that way or just strung back and forth across the top of the pens. It should work well in all sorts of weather, too, I would think.

There are worse addictions ...

Oops, it is 2" x 4". Basically, we just strung the fishing line in a grid pattern back and forth over our chicken runs. On our first run we did it every 2'. The second one was 1' and the third and fourth are at every 6". I had heard some of normanack's horror stories, so I tried to compensate.

I didn't want to chance it with my CLs, so we have 1" gamebird netting over the top and sides.

The fishing line was really annoying when we had turkeys. The silly birds would still find a way to fly up on the top of our chicken coop. I'd have to go up and get them every night and they would dive bomb off and hit the lines. That is one major reason why we do not currently have turkeys, lol!

Well, I can tell you my experience with fishing line. Some say the shine deters the hawks. Some say it's the appearance of a physical barrier. And others say, strung closely enough, it actually is a physical barrier.
The hawks here disagree. An enormous red-tailed hawk got right through, full speed, like it wasn't there. At that point we had bought out all the nearby Walmarts and had the darned stuff strung every two inches.
So we got a net. It works. Hawk hit the thing and bounced off.
There's a video on youtube somewhere of a hawk flying through ever-smaller spaces. They can contort in mid-air, go through feet-first, whatever it takes.

I haven't had an issue with the hawks while using the fishing line and we have lots of raptors around here. Sounds like you have exceptionally persistent and smart ones! I will say, however, that I prefer the gamebird netting over the fishing line. It is more expensive and more difficult to put up, but I really like the sense of security it gives me with my $$$ birds. I like it as much to keep my CLs IN as to keep raptors OUT.

 

[KPenley]

Anyone have advice for introducing a post broody hen back to the flock? I had Lucy right next to her original pen, in a broody/grow out pen for 6 weeks where everybody could see each other...so I thought it would be ok to put her right back in yesterday. Everyone was a little excited when she went in, but it seemed ok so I left her there after about 30 minutes. Last night I found her huddled behind the egg box like she was scared, and put her up on the roost. This morning she had almost decapitated herself trying to squeeze through a little fenced area, and her head and legs were bloody. I gently pulled her out, washed her up, and treated her wounds. She's in recovery now...but do you think she'll ever be able to go back to the pen? This is my first experience with a broody, but I have 2 others with eggs or chicks so I'm getting nervous about their reentry as well. TIA

 

[horsedirt]

What do you think of this guy as a breeding rooster? Hatched July 1.Give me the good bad and the ugly. I can take it. To me hes quite smart looking bu

t I still do not understand if more chesnut coloring is good or bad.Thanks I'm advance to the CL gurus!

 

[ChicKat]

Anyone have advice for introducing a post broody hen back to the flock? I had Lucy right next to her original pen, in a broody/grow out pen for 6 weeks where everybody could see each other...so I thought it would be ok to put her right back in yesterday. Everyone was a little excited when she went in, but it seemed ok so I left her there after about 30 minutes. Last night I found her huddled behind the egg box like she was scared, and put her up on the roost. This morning she had almost decapitated herself trying to squeeze through a little fenced area, and her head and legs were bloody. I gently pulled her out, washed her up, and treated her wounds. She's in recovery now...but do you think she'll ever be able to go back to the pen? This is my first experience with a broody, but I have 2 others with eggs or chicks so I'm getting nervous about their reentry as well. TIA

So sorry to hear. Hope she is better in no time.

...is it a numbers thing was she vastly outnumbered by the other hens? A friend's broody just showed up one day with 7 chicks in tow, and no one batted an eye...she had disappeared for 3-weeks then she returned. Did Lucy arrive without her chicks?

Once I did an integration of new pullets by doing a musical coops thing -- so they never felt that it was their home turf. Hope that you get good answers from here...and you may investigate posting in some of the other threads on BYC not specific to CLs. (Oh, did she go back to all CLs or was it mixed flock?) Then, you can come back here -- and once you have successful integration, tell us the magic. Good luck with it.