TIL: Fence top roller bars - do they keep chickens in?

[Mother of Chaos]

Hi all, today I learned about fencetop roller bars, gadgets that you mount above your fence to control cats, dogs, and general predators. The idea is that when they climb a fence, they generally grab the top, but if the top is a spinning bar, they lose traction.

Has anyone tried these for Escape Chickens? Our heritage breeds are pretty content to remain earth-bound, but we find the Easter Egger nonchalantly cruising around outside the 4’ poultry netting in the human areas. (Fortunately, she seems uninterested in hopping the 6’ wooden fence around the property. So far.)

Things we’ve tried:

• Floppy fence tops: we have Premier 1 No-Shock Chick Fence, which is 4’ high and quite floppy. After a few wobbly attempts at balancing, she now just casually clears it in one step. (We love the fencing, btw, because we frequently rearrange the chicken zones to let them obliterate new spots in the yard.)
• Floppy chicken wire atop the gates - same result as above.

I’m considering using a narrow-diameter PVC pipe (or metal conduit) inside a larger one, set 8-10” or so above the existing fence height.

Does anyone have chicken-related experience with these?

One of several DIY sites: https://yoursassyself.com/roll-bar-fence-diy-keep-your-pets-in-others-out/

 

[nuthatched]

At 4ft, she's likely not even touching the top of the fence very often, I'm not sure rollers would help

 

[Mother of Chaos]

At 4ft, she's likely not even touching the top of the fence very often, I'm not sure rollers would help

Right, I figured I would have to elevate the roller bar above it.

It's so maddening; she doesn't go anywhere, just a "grass is greener" thing, I guess. The others go bananas when they see her wandering around - squawk city!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Do you move the fence to keep it interesting? I occasionally have escapees too (my fence is shorter than yours), but it's always in the winter when inside the fence is boring.

 

[McChooky]

My chickens will only fly on top of a fence and jump off the other side. The roller on top of the fence would work for my chickens but not the rooster.I haven't seen a fence that'll contain him except an electric

 

[NatJ]

Hi all, today I learned about fencetop roller bars, gadgets that you mount above your fence to control cats, dogs, and general predators. The idea is that when they climb a fence, they generally grab the top, but if the top is a spinning bar, they lose traction.

View attachment 4217517 View attachment 4217521

Has anyone tried these for Escape Chickens?

If a dog grabs the top of the fence and loses traction, it falls down on the same side of the fence where it started.

But if a chicken flies up to land on top of the fence, it might fall down on the other side of the fence, depending on how fast it was going when it tried to land.

Or the chicken might flap its wings and manage to balance on top anyway.

Or the chicken might learn to just fly over, without stopping at the top.

There is a definitely a chance of the roller working for chickens, but I don't think the chance is very high.

the Easter Egger...

Things we’ve tried:

• Floppy fence tops: we have Premier 1 No-Shock Chick Fence, which is 4’ high and quite floppy. After a few wobbly attempts at balancing, she now just casually clears it in one step. (We love the fencing, btw, because we frequently rearrange the chicken zones to let them obliterate new spots in the yard.)
• Floppy chicken wire atop the gates - same result as above.

Since your Easter Egger has already learned to just fly over the floppy fence, I think she would quickly learn the same thing for the roller top on the fence.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Do you move the fence to keep it interesting? I occasionally have escapees too (my fence is shorter than yours), but it's always in the winter when inside the fence is boring.

I do! Our yard is so small that five pullets will wipe out small patches pretty quickly, so we shift it around a lot.

If our kids haven’t come over in a while, we see them peering over the taller wooden perimeter fence, trying to figure which entry gate will work better.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

If a dog grabs the top of the fence and loses traction, it falls down on the same side of the fence where it started.

But if a chicken flies up to land on top of the fence, it might fall down on the other side of the fence, depending on how fast it was going when it tried to land.

Or the chicken might flap its wings and manage to balance on top anyway.

Or the chicken might learn to just fly over, without stopping at the top.

There is a definitely a chance of the roller working for chickens, but I don't think the chance is very high.


Since your Easter Egger has already learned to just fly over the floppy fence, I think she would quickly learn the same thing for the roller top on the fence.

Yep, although it would be higher.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yep, although it would be higher.

If the roller is higher than he fence, what would keep your escape artìst from escaping through the gap between fence and roller?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

If the roller is higher than he fence, what would keep your escape artìst from escaping through the gap between fence and roller?

I thought about that, but it’s hard to imagine a chicken flying to the wobbly fence top, and then clinging on while squeezing through the gap.

But these are chickens, so of course anything could happen.