New Please Help

Hi Ganner, welcome to the henhouse.

I would recommend you buy a couple of good books to start with.  The Haynes Chicken Manual is a very good book for beginners (and not so beginners!).

After an initial settling in period, chickens will automatically put themselves to be in the hen house at dusk, but it is recommended that you keep them penned in a smaller area until they are familiar where "home" actually is.

How high they fly is very dependent on breed.  Some are very good flyers (leghorns and appenzellers), some don't fly at all (Brahmas).  Most middle weight laying hybrids  can probably clear a 4-6 foot fence, especialy if they have something to launch off, but mostly they will be happy to stay on the ground if they have food, water, somewhere to dustbathe and somewhere to perch.  If your field is exposed then they will also need an area which is protected from the wind and rain.

Hi, welcome to the site!

If your paddock is in a rural location foxes are a major consideration, or in fact my friend lost her chickens in the middle of town!

I made a hen pen which is about 20 m2 and have made it high enough to walk in for my benefit and fenced over the top. There is a hen house inside. When I got my hens I kept them in there entirely for 2 weeks until I was sure that they were used to going back into the hen house at night. They roosted on top of the hen house the first three nights but I just kept putting them back in.

After 2 weeks I opened the door to the run and let them free range. It is very reassuring to know that there is a second defence barrier between the fox and the hens. Also if you need to do any thing in the field such as spray weeds etc you can shut the hens in.

I have found it is a system that works really well and my hens have only gone camping next door for 1 night in the time that I have had them which is about 14 months!

Good luck,

Bev