Will my fence be too low? Too near trees?

[henrietta101]

My husband has built a nice house plus run that leads out to a fenced off area for them to free range. They are still new to here and are acclimatising to the run. New to chickens he built fencing only waist high. We have an australorp, 2 RIR x New Hampshires and one isa brown. We also have a little shih tzu dog in our backyard. I am concerned now that the fence is too low and they may fly over it. I am also worried that they may climb into one of the bush trees we have in the fenced off area such as our oleandar and get out. What do you think? Our neighbours have 2 isa browns and their fence is low too so that is why we built it that way. their chickens are older though our are around the 12 week mark

 

[GAchick]

Waist high will be no challenge for chickens to get over.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Not even wing clipping will likely keep them in. Waist high is not going to work well.

This fence is 6' tall. That Speckled Sussex Rooster took it without breaking a sweat. Hens did it too, if motivated enough.

 

[henrietta101]

Oh No!! Looks like we will be going to the hardware store this weekend!

 

[Stephanie739]

My fence is only about 4 feet tall. They are getting the idea that I want them to stay inside, but when they want out, they fly up and over....they did that from the kennel @ 6 feet too. You might be able to encourage them to stay inside - lots of treats - but when they want to go, they will.

 

[teach1rusl]

Younger chickens will tend to fly more than as they mature and gain body weight...making flying more difficult. The fence around our property is field fence on two sides, and wooden horse fence on the other two sides. The wooden fence has a piece of wire run between the lowest/next highest board and below the lowest board (so my dogs wouldn't crawl through). It's 4 ft. fence. My chickens have never gone over it or through it (which they could easily do). We had a low spot at our driveway where they did go under once, but that got filled in.

I've had some heavy breeds and some light bodied breeds that are good flyers (have two d'uccles right now that can fly like sparrows). If you have enough to entertain them on your property, they'll stay there. I put 24 inches of chicken wire around my garden this summer, and not one chicken got in there.

I guess I'm saying it might be worth your while to wait and see. Maybe they will try to "escape." But maybe they won't too.

 

[henrietta101]

I guess it will be best for me to let them out when I have a day to keep an eye on them. My main concern is the dog. He is a real barker and would probably get excited by them. Although he has paid little interest in them to date with them in the run. Next door have a labrador but they are a docile sweet breed and the dog walks around next to the chickens. Maybe I need to get the dog used to the chickens more....but they are so young I would hate to scare them.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Good thinking - definitely get your dog use to the chickens first. Just put your dog on leash and sit out there with him/her each day for about 15 minutes. Work up to walking around with the dog on leash...and maybe beyond evenually. My two dogs have been trained and are great with my birds (retriever and great dane). But I was worried about my sister-in-laws dog, a jack russell mix. She visits often and always has her dog with her. Pea (her dog) learned very quickly to ignore the chickens. We started with leash training, and now when she visits she can run around with my dogs off leash with the chickens out. Now if only she'd leave my cats alone

 

[hcppam]

Quote:
yes it is too low, the brats will fly over

and the oleander is poisonous (get rid of it) they can get the poison on their feet and feathers and ingest it with out actually eating it and die.

 

[2chicksinthecity]

My run area has a covering so I figure it keeps them in and predators out. We have several hawks in the area even in town so I feel better having a roof.

2 Australorps and 2 Buff Orpingtons