Uncovered run

[mamabigbird]

My run has an enormous fishing net draped over it and tied to the outside framework. It is by no means predator proof yet so far nothing has tried to go through it.
I am amazed at the lack of raccoons here. We are on the edge of a big forested area and farmland that is slowly being consumed by urban sprawl developments.
Our hens do free range for a few hours every day and so far only lost one to a raven while they were out foraging.
I guess it all depends on how many predatory critters are in your area as to how strong your defenses need to be.

 

[flowergirl60]

Part of my run is uncovered. I have pie pans dangling from string wich reflect in the sun. I also have a decoy owl in the fence. No problems so far.

 

[eastercreek]

We are in the process of covering ours because there have been a lot of birds(and kittens...and rabbits) and maybe even small children(jk) lost to hawks around here. My concern would be the hawk would perch in the tree and just wait for the best time. We have friends who have trees in their run and they actually ran twine across it in zig zag patterns. It didnt look all that great..but it works. It wont keep anything else out-but it has kept the hawks away. Somebody posted a youtube video on here not too long ago about a hawk who flew down into a run and then actually entered the chicken house and had a chicken lunch. It didnt show the killing-but I turned down the volume because it sounded horrible.

 

[Arielle]

We don't scare the crows away because I'm hoping they will live up to their reputation as a hawk harrasser. THey were gone most of the winter but now they are back. Sit up in the dead tree left for them!

About the netting over the top of the run. THe zoo in our area covers all their displays. And often have big trees rising up thru the netting. It can be done.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I think you could do it. How many feet by how many feet is it? Since you are going to be replacing the posts that would be the time to make some simple changes.
Use the trees as the wire support.

As far as going around the trees just get some chain and put a clip on one end then fasten it around the tree. Now you have all those links to attach wire to. You can actually put a lag bolt or two in the tree without harming it to keep the chain up high enough. Just locate something made of stainless steel (home depot carries stainless hardware) drill a pilot hole and spray with tree sealer before you put the bolt in. Tree sealer will protect the tree from infection.

Then you can run wires out to your posts around the parimeter to provide support for the wire mesh that goes over top. The posts will have to be braced to hold the pull of the overhead wire but it could be done quite easily. It would save you from having to put in support posts in the middle and would give it a bird sanctuary look to the enclosure.

 

[san415]

My run is not covered, so far so good, no losses. My hens are shut in the coop at night and my dogs have a dog door to the outside. My yard also has two fences around it. But we do have some hawks in the area, I guess so far they have not bothered with my yard. You can see my fence on my byc page

 

[The Funky Chicken Dunce]

My chickens have no cover but they do have many trees, It has been a year since I lost any but 2 years ago I lost 3 in the course of a few months. I later found out there was a hawk's nest at the back of property! It wouldn't be a bad idea to walk around all of your surrounding trees looking up, if there is a nest you will see it. We had to keep the chickens in until the hawk chicks left the nest

 

[rcentner]

We covered our run with clothesline, made it interweaved so that no birds could fly in or out. It's like netting, but mucho cheaper and wider holes. Like a big grid, sorry I don't have a pic to share though. It works great and cost us probably $15 in clothesline to cover quite a substantial area.

 

[chickenfarmer17]

none of my runs are covered but my bantam run will be because a hawk that flew in to get a 6th bantam but i cussed it off and it hasn't been back since