Question on Chicken runs

Mossy_Da_Dog

I need to work out a way to help my 3 chickens this winter. am new to having chickens and now that the weather is getting a bit wetter, their run is a pool of mud and I don't feel happy about the space they have.

I got a handyman around to have a look and he suggested building a series of chicken wire walls in the garden and handing over most of the garden to them (keeping them off the patio and with a walk way for us to get to their coop) - but that seems a bit permanent - and convoluted.

I've looked at chicken fencing online and it's all a bit small and short, and very expensive... €90 for 2 metres of fence.

My main goal is to give them more room so they aren't restricted to mud and to protect my new patio so they dont have access to it to do their business.

Has anyone any advice or help?

Fakediamond

I’m on a similar mission, albeit in different conditions. I’m trying to fence a fox proof area for my new hens.

Yesterday I bought a 50 metre roll of orange fencing mesh, 1 metre high. It cost me 12 euro, although I think they may have made a pricing error on that!

I will buy pigtail fence posts, and loop it around them.

I will have to string an outer electric fence outside that to make it foxproof, But you might not have that problem.

Fakediamond

https://www.desertcart.jp/products/55203089-v-protek-snow-fencing-poultry-fence-safety-netting-deer-netting-plastic-barrier-for-garden-protection-orange-39-width-x-98-length

Fakediamond

https://www.topline.ie/garden-outdoors/fencing-decking/agri-fencing-accessories/electric-fencing/rutland/pigtail-electric-fence-post-10-pack

DBB

Poultry netting will do the job for you op... same idea as fakediamond's orange mesh, but green, and not as bulky as the orange mesh, which you might prefer if you're looking for something that'll look OK in the garden.
You can get electrified poultry netting too, which is more expensive, but super stuff. We have a lot of it in operation here.
Either way, all ideas put forward so far work really well if you want to re-shape and move accessible areas around really easily

Edited to add... €90 for 2m of fencing? Bloody hell! The electric poultry netting is around €100 for 50m, and that's about 1.2m high. Shorter lengths of 25m are available too. The non-electrified stuff is a good bit cheaper.

Fakediamond

Mmm....So now I’m wondering if I’d be better off with electric netting wire....there’s already electric fencing for cattle nearby, so I could feed into that. There’s also a healthy fox population! I only have 3 hens so I was trying to keep the costs down by using the orange netting and creating a three stand electric fence around it, low medium and high wire, mainly to keep them from digging under. Might be a bit unsafe?

This might be a stupid question...but do the hens not get shocks from the electrified netting?

DBB

I think a 3 strand set-up will work fine for foxes
Not mink or pine marten though. But if you don't have a problem with the latter?
Yes, very occasionally the hens can get a shock. Though we've a lot of hens, and it is very, very occasional!

Graces7

DBB wrote: »

I think a 3 strand set-up will work fine for foxes
Not mink or pine marten though. But if you don't have a problem with the latter?
Yes, very occasionally the hens can get a shock. Though we've a lot of hens, and it is very, very occasional!

Agree totally and I did not know they were around until I found my hens headless one morning.

sdp

i use the the electric fencing, got it from here 5/6 years ago, no bother with delivery to Ireland. have added to it since. Its easy to use and move around.

https://www.electricfencing.co.uk/the-professional-preditor-fox-busting-net.html

ref the pig tails, it won't work with the electric netting, ( have tried it ) as you can't get any tension on the net, as they are quite a bit shorter then the netting,

have not used the orange fencing, so might work with it.:)
I can take some photos of my netting , if it helps.
The beauty of been able to move it, is you never have a muddy area

aonb

How big is your current run OP?
Hens will just scratch any enclosed space BARE and with our irish climate it will inevitably turn to mud very quickly
You could COVER your run/roof-wise to keep it dry (also has the very important advantage of keeping wild birds and their bugs out!) and/or lay some sort of surface on the ground that will drain well too.

You could then put perches and hanging devices and go 'upwards' with various boredom busters. You could let them freerange in your garden every day for a while too.

sdp

Just to give you a idea of pigs tails to netting.

[IMG][/img]

s1ippy

I got 100m of this chicken wire for €30. The bindweed growing through creates even more of an obstacle. Our livestock are very easy going so they don't try and scale the low fence, but if you have more adventurous creatures you can easily affix three lengths of it together with cable ties to create a run with no gaps.

Ask in hardware shop for a roll of chicken wire.

Fakediamond

sdp wrote: »

Just to give you a idea of pigs tails to netting.

[IMG][/img]

What kind of posts are you using sdp?

DBB

The black plastic posts you see in the photo come with the netting... each has a spike that sticks down into the grass/clay, though some have a double spike which I find better for stability.
It occurred to me, fakediamond, that you may need several strands of electric fencing... a couple down low, one at fox nose height, and one high up... in which case, pigtail posts aren't much good. The plastic fencing posts will do the job though, for the same sort of money... maybe even a little cheaper!

Fakediamond

I might have to rethink my security, with breeding season not far away and hungry vixens on the move, I’m getting panicky now. I hadn’t even factored in mink, which I have seen occasionally and even pine martens, though they’re probably around

scilover

sdp wrote: »

Just to give you a idea of pigs tails to netting.

[IMG][/img]

this is quite good and easy. I mean it is high but if you wonder, chicken also can jump high make sure you fence is high enough for them to not pass through

sdp

As Dbb said, the posts come with the netting, I got the double spike, and the extra strong corner posts that stand at 1.25m. the netting stands at 1.22m( 4ft) they come with a guy rope.

Been a electric fence, the girls tend not get to close to it, maybe they have had a shock from it? or can hear it? not to sure. thankfully they have never tried to fly over.
I find it great, I do check it each day, as I'm in quite an open site,

good luck with it, if you need more photo, let me know.

Fakediamond

Thanks sdp.

As I seem to have hijacked this thread, I’ll plough on....has anyone researched the cheapest supplier for the electric netting please?

DBB

Fakediamond wrote: »

Thanks sdp.

As I seem to have hijacked this thread, I’ll plough on....has anyone researched the cheapest supplier for the electric netting please?

I got ours from here https://www.electric-fence.co.uk/animal-type/poultry/poultry-netting.html

Was definitely the best value around at that time anyway... double spikes, and definitely get the one with the smaller mesh towards the bottom, as I think this is your best bet against mink or pine marten. If you think you have mink about, our other line of defence is a couple of mink traps around the place, in the hope that the can of sardines within is more tempting than the birds.
Between normal fencing, hedges, electric poultry netting and electric wire fencing, and traps, we haven't lost a bird to a predator yet.. touch wood!

We also came across a job lot of electric poultry netting for smaller money on adverts or donedeal, from someone getting out of poultry, so keep an eye out there too.

sdp

I got mine is the link in #9. as wanted the 1.22m . and could not find it at the time Ireland.
my site is wide open, so for me just wanted the higher net. as DBB said, double spike, and close mesh towards the bottom. I use extra tent pegs as the ground is uneven.

The green netting is near invisible from a distance, .
Its held up really well is all weather, snow, storms etc.

Everyone's setup is different, and what works well for one, may not work for others.

Best of luck, and put up photo of finished works,

Fakediamond

So....I bought the electrified poultry netting, very like sdp’s photo, 1.1m high. I’ve tried to hook it up with the existing single strand electric fence, which is for the cattle in the field. The poultry netting is touching the uneven ground all the way around and weakening the current on both the single strand and poultry net. The farmer who is grazing the cattle cannot have his cattle getting out so I effectively cannot hook it up at the moment.

Any advice on how to get this up and running successfully? I met a fox one field down on my walk on Sunday, so this is getting urgent!

My adventurous hens are also using the Roof of the coop as a launch pad to fly over the fence, but I can probably manage that.

aonb

Fakediamond wrote: »

So....I bought the electrified poultry netting, very like sdp’s photo, 1.1m high. I’ve tried to hook it up with the existing single strand electric fence, which is for the cattle in the field. The poultry netting is touching the uneven ground all the way around and weakening the current on both the single strand and poultry net. The farmer who is grazing the cattle cannot have his cattle getting out so I effectively cannot hook it up at the moment.

Any advice on how to get this up and running successfully? I met a fox one field down on my walk on Sunday, so this is getting urgent!

My adventurous hens are also using the Roof of the coop as a launch pad to fly over the fence, but I can probably manage that.

I would immediately clip a wing - once they start that flying lark, you'll never keep them in the run.:rolleyes: Its the work of a minute, with a scissors and someone to hold the hen - and will keep them safely in their run. You can google how to clip a wing, but basically, someone holds the hen safely under their arm, extend the wing, and cut the long flight feathers from the tip of the wing for about 7 or 8 feathers (remember to only do ONE wing!)

Fakediamond

aonb wrote: »

I would immediately clip a wing - once they start that flying lark, you'll never keep them in the run.:rolleyes: Its the work of a minute, with a scissors and someone to hold the hen - and will keep them safely in their run. You can google how to clip a wing, but basically, someone holds the hen safely under their arm, extend the wing, and cut the long flight feathers from the tip of the wing for about 7 or 8 feathers (remember to only do ONE wing!)

Yeah I won’t be attempting that, but hopefully I can find someone who will! I’m more worried about the fencing to be honest, the fox family will be visiting shortly I feel.

I mean the bloody “run” has a big lump of field thrown in, but oh no, it’s not enough apparently. My farmer neighbour thinks it’s hilarious that they’re living in such luxury and costing so much for a few eggs in return.

DBB

How uneven is the ground fakediamond?
The bottom strand of the poultry netting is not electrified, so it's ok for it to touch the ground. But you should find that if you buy a few white electric fence posts, you can use them to increase the tension, stability, and how the netting is sitting for you on uneven ground.
A bunch of 10 white posts costs around €15.
https://www.homeland.ie/farming/animal-equipment/fencing/78106/plastic-fencing-post?gclid=Cj0KCQjwoJX8BRCZARIsAEWBFMKU99AeOUbUdZUQnec7O1kMVmUi0EiJ1dotGoR7wNymMXcDUsmaN_saAmg5EALw_wcB

Fakediamond

DBB wrote: »

How uneven is the ground fakediamond?
The bottom strand of the poultry netting is not electrified, so it's ok for it to touch the ground. But you should find that if you buy a few white electric fence posts, you can use them to increase the tension, stability, and how the netting is sitting for you on uneven ground.
A bunch of 10 white posts costs around €15.
https://www.homeland.ie/farming/animal-equipment/fencing/78106/plastic-fencing-post?gclid=Cj0KCQjwoJX8BRCZARIsAEWBFMKU99AeOUbUdZUQnec7O1kMVmUi0EiJ1dotGoR7wNymMXcDUsmaN_saAmg5EALw_wcB

Thanks DBB, I actually bought 10 of those white posts before I decided to get the netting! I just need a bit of time to get it sorted properly. It might need a bit of strimming around the edges to even it out too. I’ll have a go at the weekend, I just need to be on high alert until then.

DBB

You've just reminded me... we keep the grass under the netting short. Mind you, we have regular electric fencing too which we strim underneath regularly. Not such a big deal once you've it done for the winter, but it does need a fair bit of maintenance during the summer growth.
The joys, huh?:D There's always something that needs to be done!

sdp

Oh fakediamond, I feel your pain! I'd hate to think how much the girls have cost so far! it takes a while to get it sorted.
Like DBB I keep the netting free of grass and weeds, ( boiling water) the whole year round. have never tried to connect to another fencer, I use battery powered. It sounds like its leaking somewhere, my ground is very uneven, and did find it saged at the bottom, so I used extra posts, and have guy ropes on all the posts.

heres a bit of extra information
..https://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Electric-Poultry-Netting-Advice.html

Ref the flying, if you don't think you can clip a wing, could you put something round the top of hen house, to stop them getting on it? maybe 2x1 timber screwed to hen house, and some windbreaker/ fruit netting stapled to timbers.
As Aonb said, once they start there'll be no stopping them!

Best of luck!

Fakediamond

Hi all,

I just thought I’d post a couple of photos of how I got the fencing set up in the end. I’m delighted with the outcome, and no complaints from the residents either.

A087B664-AC81-493E-AEDA-C8CE6DE22E63.jpeg

4ACF1C45-5A52-441D-AEE5-3DA3AB676A91.jpeg

aonb

Fakediamond wrote: »

Hi all,

I just thought I’d post a couple of photos of how I got the fencing set up in the end. I’m delighted with the outcome, and no complaints from the residents either.

A087B664-AC81-493E-AEDA-C8CE6DE22E63.jpeg

4ACF1C45-5A52-441D-AEE5-3DA3AB676A91.jpeg

wow - you have a hen run INSIDE a shed - is it completely dry?
Is it BRIGHT enough from an egg production point of view?

Fakediamond

aonb wrote: »

wow - you have a hen run INSIDE a shed - is it completely dry?
Is it BRIGHT enough from an egg production point of view?

Well, it’s kind of inside/outside, the fenced area includes a chunk of grassy area on two sides as well. I just thought it was more snug inside the old hay shed

It’s fairly dry, the rain can still drive in when the wind is blowing, but obviously not as bad as if they were entirely in the open.

The egg production has increased from 2 a day to three a day, which makes me think that one of them was laying out somewhere. They’re only fully enclosed, with wings clipped since 4th December and it’s going great! Im just relieved that security has been beefed up before a hungry fox comes calling.

sdp

Well done. looks great Fakediamond, Peace of mind is wonderful