Whew! That was a close call...

[mylilchix]

I spent my morning putting up bird netting on my run. We're planning on roofing part of it and then putting up chicken wire over the rest of the run. The bird netting was a quick fix while we're waiting to start that project. Thank goodness I did!! I went into the house to get the chicks some fresh water and on my way back to the coop I saw a HUGE hawk sitting on the corner post. It flew away when it saw me. All of the girls and boys got spooked, and I had all 22 in the coop when I got there. That was a close one, and where were my dogs that were hanging out in the dog run next to the coop when I needed them!?!

Sonja

 

[xanaxnation]

what is bird netting? and where do you find it? i have an x-pen (open dog kennel that is flexable) that i set up at te end of my run so i can sit with the girls without trying to crawl in their run but its open air on top. i dont worry about something coming in from the top, i only let them in it when im there with them. but i worry about one of my girls hopping the fence. its only 36in high so i want something soft and flexable to pin to the top while im out there with them

 

[^_^]

I got some at Canadian Tire in the garden section. Maybe try a place near you with a decent selection of garden items? It was with the trellis netting and things like that.

The stuff I got is a black plastic netting. It's very light. I can't really describe it so here's a link. I'm not endorsing this company or anything, but this will show you what it is. Poly Bird Netting. Seems to me I've also seen it made out of nylon or something instead of plastic.

 

[mylilchix]

I found ours at Ace, and paid $21.99 for a 7'x100' roll. I know that Home Depot and Lowes carries it too. I plan on doing chicken wire along the top of the run evetually, but I was sure glad to have the netting up today!!
Sonja

 

[Bisqit&Gravy]

The co-op near my house has that bird netting. That's where I got mine from. Maybe all co-ops have it????

 

[WisconsinChick]

so is chicken wire better than knotted netting for the tops of the runs?

 

[mylilchix]

I like the idea of chicken wire because it's a bit stronger. I'd love to do hardware cloth, but it's gonna be too spendy for us right now. I think the netting will be a good temporary fix. We're in the mountains outside of Denver, so we have a lot of predators to look out for, ie. bear, racoon, fox, mountain lion...you get the picture!

Sonja

 

[^_^]

I'm in the same boat as you, mylilchix. This is our first year and we've already built the coop, run, etc. I'd like to eventually have chicken wire over the top of the run, but the netting will have to do for this year (I haven't even put it up yet). The birds aren't out in the run unless someone's home and the dog's roaming the yard when we're here, so I'm not too worried. No major predators here and they're well secured in the coop at night.

 

[cyanne]

I bought aviary netting for the top of my run. It's much heavier than the plastic bird netting (it's like knotted string) and is supposed to be UV stabilized so it does not dry rot in the sun. For a 20ft by 50 section, it cost me $64 plus about $15 shipping.

It is supposed to have like a 300 lb breaking strength so it should be able to keep out any hawks and keep my chickens inside the run. It also keeps out the neighborhood cats.

It won't protect against night-time predators like raccoons, but the chickens are in the coop at night anyway.