The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: jacob and Georgina on April 29, 2012, 08:56:47 am
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when we get our new chickens to add to our flock they will be completely free to range around our 10 acres of pasture however i want to fence off the small area around the house just in case i need to keep them a bit closer to home for whatever reason and i thought if i left them in this fenced off area till mid day then they would be More tempted to lay in their house and not everywhere else!
However i have used poultry netting before but am not all that keen on it as i find it very hard to get tight and just occasionally our sheep try to jump through it and this makes a right mess of it!
anyway my question was can chickens get through stock fencing? i thought of using stock fence with two strands of wire along the top to stop them jumping over! would this work? would be welcome to any other suggestions
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Our chickens made it over a 6ft mesh fencing even with one wing clipped. Which resulted in a who load of replanting of the veggie patch :'(
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That's an expensive solution if it's just for the chickens. OK if it's going to be containing other livestock as well. Why not get yourself a pile of second hand heras type fence panels like you see round building sites? You can make up a pen whatever size you want, where you want, then move it whenever you want. Don't use the block feet that come with the panels just invert them so there's no gap at the bottom and tie them together using cable ties or old bale twine. Ours get let out at about 6.30 in the morning and it's very rare to find them laying anywhere except in their shed even though they have eight acres to roam about.
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My ex batts. go straight through standard stock fencing and fly over 6ft fence panels - but I have not clipped their wings. They also sometimes choose to roost in trees especially in good weather. I hope you do not have a fox problem. Once they find you, you will be plagued at all times of day. Please do not think foxes only attack at night.