Thank you! Great advice. I am thinking of making a smaller "inner run" that is totally predator proof, so that they'll always have access to a run even if we are away, and keeping the big run as a space they can be in during the day while we are home. I want them to have plenty of space without...
Thank you so much for these great ideas! I'm going to look into those wooden posts- they look like the solution. I'll do chicken wire for the roof and run an electric wire to keep the raccoons out. I really want these girls to have a large, safe run, but it's been pretty challenging finding the...
Thank you for your reply! Our flock is currently 12 hens, and yes, adding the hardware cloth over the roof of a run of this size would double the cost. We have two coops: one is good for about 3-5 birds and the other will house up to 12. Both are inside the run and can be predator-proofed...
Thanks for your reply! Right now we have T- bar fence posts rather than wooden framing, that we are planning to use with hardware cloth to create the run enclosure. We have a fence gate that can be opened to go in and out of the enclosed area, which we'll get a lock for. I am wondering if using...
Good points. I will definitely have someone refilling their food and water, but most likely won't be able to have someone come over at night and morning to let them in and out. I'm thinking (based on some other posts I've read) that if the run is predator-proof I can let them come in and out of...
We are in the process of building a new run (we live on a fenced acre in a rural area) and our biggest predator concerns are raccoons and hawks/eagles. Our run is about 50 ft by 25 ft and we have two coops inside of it. Our plan is to predator-proof the run so that when we go on the occasional...