Ordered netting today. Going to screen part of the garden.

[Doodle2U]

Ordered this today.

Our chickens free range for between 3 and 6 hours a day, depending on if I'm around or not. Most mornings, I go out and do a poo pick, so we can still use the garden without being knee-deep in chicken dung! The lawn, however, looks like a churned up field, post festival!

So I have a cunning plan! I'm going to use the netting to de-mark part of the garden, along a flower bed, under the trampoline and a smidge of lawn, for the chickens private use.

Has anyone else screen part of their garden off like this?

Bumping for you.

Ta Puzzle. I''ve found that chicken keepers usually wander in later in the day! I think they see to their hens and horses first thing then probably sit down with a brew and Mumsnet for half an hour!

I don't use that product, but I have them screened into an area of the front garden with something similar (builders mesh fencing and metal poles - yours will look less intrusive!).
The only problem I have is with them getting over it!!
Not sure how, I have now clipped the wings of the one that kept getting out and have got flowerbed netting over the top - and they haven't got out since. I am going to take the netting off the top and see if they still stay in - but am waiting until I am home all day.

where are my kids going to play if you screen half your garden?

We used to have something similar when I was little and we used to have chicken (really, but they later were replaced by rabbits..). It was not nice and green though, just plain metalic grey! I am sure your chicks will love it, freedom but safety the beast of both worlds!

or maybe the bEst of both worlds, sorry!

CS - that's what I'm wondering. We clip wings but even so, they're all pretty impressive jumpers!

Gori - I'm thinking of screening all along the back fence and around the tramp. so still 95% of the garden to play in - poo free!

That reminds me, I must book this dog in for his haircut before your H bursts a blood vessel wondering when he's going to be done!

I wonder if mine isn't high enough, you would hope that a product specifically for this purpose would be?
I would say mine is about 1m high.

I screen mine off and move it around the garden, but found out that DH and DS had let them free range everywhere which they said was hilarious.

haven't been brave enough to do it, as we back onto green belt, and they can get under or over the dividing fence and hedges.

The trick to stop them jumping over it is, to NOT make it taut, if it slack along the top, they are less likely to try and roost on it, or be able to jump over as it moves.

Mine 7 are laying really well, 7 eggs today!

Oh I always forget to ask you, do you need empty egg boxes at all?

Good tip Ali! It's due to be delivered next Tuesday, so I'll put it up and then put a pic on my profile. It looks about a meter high (similar to CS's fence height), so we'll see!

Egg boxes - ALWAYS! As many as you can manage. I don't mind handing eggs out to friends and neighbours but I never get the wretched boxes back! [grrrr]

Great idea, Ive got to ex battery hens coming to live with us next weekend and some eggs in our incubator so have been racking my brains on how to extend our run. I don't like them free ranging totally because of the grass so this would solve my problem too.

I've got that netting and use it to make a pen around the eglu and run.

We have half our garden screened off with that netting, it has been a godsend. We have never had a problem with chickens jumping or flying over it but they do tend to limbo under it if they get chance! We have just put a few tent pegs in to keep it flat to the ground. I thought it was pricey when we got it but it has been well worth it.

i have some of that netting stopping the hens going too far off in a certain direction as my lovely orpington came to a sticky fox-shaped end while wandering off in that direction.

doesnt seem to bother them, but then they still have plenty of space to wander about in.

Hmmmmm....well, mixed views on the netting.

It seems to work and then, and I don't know how, one of them is on the other side. Then the other two go mad trying to join her.

I've made it baggy - one gets out. I make it tight (so higher) one gets out.

I think I may need to re-think this.

Typically, I have thick hens who 'up' production of eggs in winter when they are supposed to ease off laying a bit. Leave molting until the coldest winter on record for years and now, it seems, are Olympic standard champions at high jump. Or maybe it's limbo, I don't know coz I can't work out how they're doing it!

I realise this is an old thread but as people on here have the omlet netting, which I'm considering for sectioning off part of the garden, can I ask if you're still happy with it. And has anyone bought a cheaper version from anywhere else? TIA

We've got the Omlet netting and really like it. They have burrowed under it a bit so we need to reinforce where the soil is soft. Ours have never flown over the top though. We got the longer length of netting and the extra poles - we didn't need that much though - we have loads rolled up in the corner. Our lawn looks loads better since we fenced them in.

Thanks for replying - when you say the longer length, have you got 25m? It does sound like quite a lot - not that i can really visulaise it

We got the 50m netting - which with hind sight was way more than we needed. Pace out how much you want to fence off and then measure it somehow (also struggled to visualise how much we'd need). We also got a couple of corner posts and they really help it you want to create right angles in your netting. But they do all add to the cost.

thanks very much - that's really helpful

I tried using omlet netting. My tiny bantams jumped over it. Or limboed under it. We now use it for tennis.