[ness]

Hi
After much "discussion" me and my oh have come to an agreement, the chooks can be free range in the winter but confined to an area at the back of the garden for the summer.  They have a run but I don't consider it big enough for long term use.  The area that contains their run could easily be partitioned off giving them more space.
What could I use to do this?  Aunt Sally, you suggested something in a previous post but I couldn't find the link.  I'm thinking of some sort of plastic fencing, like the council use in that lovely shade of orange!  I would need to clip their wings, is this easy?
Plus has anyone turfed a confined area for chickens?  Is it worth it?  My girls love grazing grass and I think they would hate being able to see but not reach grass.
Anyhelp gratefully received
Ness x

[poultrygeist]

I remember a thread a few weeks back about this and Rosemary (Selkie) used the green woven stuff that can be used as barrier fencing or on scaffolding as a safety barrier.

It's on ebay and not too expensive compared to most options.

I know GrannieAnnie uses the orange barrier fence which is VERY orange !

Rob

[poultrygeist]

This is the stuff I was thinking of...

ebay link

Other suppliers are available !

R

[richyrich7]

Hi Ness they will clear any bit of land they are on so don't know if it's worth turfing, clipping the wings it very easy, you just need a sharp pair of scissors and possibly 2 pairs of hands, it does not hurt them! all you need to do is cut the flight feathers on 1 wing only, being careful not to trim to far down just like cutting a dog or rabbits claws really

Here's a link to an Article on wing clipping.

[GrannieAnnie]

I remember a thread a few weeks back about this and Rosemary (Selkie) used the green woven stuff that can be used as barrier fencing or on scaffolding as a safety barrier.

It's on ebay and not too expensive compared to most options.

I know GrannieAnnie uses the orange barrier fence which is VERY orange !

Rob

Yes it is VERY orange isn't it Rob??      and not a lot of good as a couple of chooks who flew over it in the past few days had a wing clipped!!!!    

[poultrygeist]

I looked on ebay and you can get in different colours too !

I'm glad I don't have to clip ours. Though I reckon if the netting wasn't on the top of the run, they'd clear the 5'5" with a run up.

You'll have to feed them an iron rich diet to hold 'em down.  

R

[GrannieAnnie]

You'll have to feed them an iron rich diet to hold 'em down.  

R

Now why didn't I think of that???    

[jammy]

Hi Ness
I have recently decided to rein my girls in a little bit more now that growing season will soon be on us and my kids will want to be out in garden more.  I wanted, like you, to give them a little more room though so I used netting with some poles staked in the ground.  I have posted a couple of pics for you to look at.  I went for black netting as it doesnt stand out in garden and got it from a place called Knowles Nets which was really good for price and service.  The poles are called road spikes and they were a freebie from a friend  




 

[ness]

Thanks for all your replies and info, its all really useful.
Love the pick of you set up jammy, thats exactly the sort of stuff I'm looking for (lovely chooks too   ).  Have had a look at the website and its nice and cheap too.
What sort of height fencing do you think I'll need for bantams with their wings clipped?

[jammy]

I bought 1.2m width for mine but as you can see by the bit thats attached near the door it can stretch quite a bit further than that.   My girls aren't banties but they dont fly around much, their wings aren't clipped and they dont attempt to go over it although they do jump up to the trellis on the other side so im going to have to put another bit of net up over there at the weeked :roll:  

I ended up buying 10m worth all together and it cost me £6 although if you're going to get some from there ring your order through instead of doing it on the net as their postage on the net is a standard amount and if you ring them it should be less

I'm not sure if you're close to me (Im in Ivybridge) but you're more than welcome to come look if you want to, just let me know.