[michael hrvey]

 Hi,
My first post, so hello everybody.

 My Father has decided to take on some more chickens, he's had one chicken (Henrietta)for the past ten years or so, now he's decided to go up to four chickens.

He's going to use his entire back garden, 20mtrs X 20mtrs, and I want some advice on what fencing he should put up, theres a thin privet hedge along two sides of the garden, and a broken down wooden fence along the other.

So, from your extensive experience, whats a cheap(ish) way to fence off his garden to keep the chickens in and how tall should the fence be.

Mike

[beulah59]

I should think the quickest and easiest way would be to run a net round the boundary ... try Knowle Nets for a good price

http://www.knowlenets.co.uk/pest_game/poultry_netting.htm

[neil9797]

I recently fenced of my garden quite cheaply, though at 6m x 6m it is much smaller than your dad's. First question is - why fence it all? Why not save time and money by fencing just a quarter of it off? That would be more than enough for 4 hens. Other tips:
1. 3 or 4 ft would be enough for big, heavy birds but not lighter ones and it would not keep foxes out either, so go for 6ft.
2. I bought chicken wire cheaply off ebay (Wilkinson's is selling cheap wire in store too)
3. Instead of expensive fence posts and footings I banged in tree stakes at 40% the cost.

HTH, N

[chuckmum]

I would consider what could get in and harm your dad's chickens, you need something that will keep fox/dog and human out, frankly netting won't do this. The sight of the hens from the outside in should be avoided. If it was me I would have fence panels, but it does depend on what surrounds you and what you consider to be the biggest threat to the hens.