Well, my Golds have been with us four weeks now. Some of them (not many) still have little patches of downy fluff, but it won’t be much longer until they are ready to go out into the world. Which means DH and I need to get to work on planning their outdoor run. It’ll only be a temporary thing, until they’ve had a chance to get used to the barnyard and come to know it as ‘home base.’
Right now, DH and I are ‘discussing’ the need for the run to be enclosed. I say yes. He says no. He says that if he builds it up 6′ high, it shouldn’t need to be fully enclosed.
I am worrying about them being able to fly over it, or larger predators to get in at them. We have larger birds in the area which could easily swoop down and carry off a chicken.
What are your experiences, audience? Will a 6′ chicken wire fence be enough? Or will it need to be enclosed?
There a Chick 
I would recommend welded wire instead of chicken wire – it’s stronger. Chicken wire can be really wobbly, and welded wire is supposed to keep predators out better. Most breeds of chicken won’t be able to jump a 6′ fence, so you should be good as far as that. For our run we have a 4′ welded wire fence, and they have been fine with that so far, and it’s been over a year. The fence has held up a lot better than the temporary chicken wire ones we’ve tried. They’ve never jumped out of it. Their door to their coop is open at all times when they are outside, and they will alert each other if they see hawks: they will all run inside if they see something. Luckily we haven’t had anything swoop in to get them yet. I think it’s possible – you could put a cover of chicken wire over the top of the run if you prefer, that would definitely prevent hawks coming in. If you always have your chickens locked in their coop at night that will deter night predators – raccoons and things like that. I hope this helps. 🙂
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Thank you for the insight! 🙂 We are intending to keep the coop open and accessible at all times, as well as locking it up at night. How do your chickens fare outdoors in bad weather? Do you lock them up (or just not let them out in the morning) if it’s raining? or do you open the doors anyway and let them be the judges?
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Run twine across the top, spaced 12″ apart. That’ll keep hawks from dropping in. You can plant vining plants around the coop as well.
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That’s a good idea, and it might be compromise my husband and I need to make. I’ll mention it to him and see what he says. Thanks! 🙂
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