To all dog kennel chicken RUN owners with no hardware cloth (graphic)

Sorry that happened, and sorry you had to witness it.

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This is what I plan to do also... but I have a question ... do we need to cover every square inch ? or just around the bottom ?

Also... what about the chain link door ? cover just the door ? or cover and overlap to close up gaps ? What have you done ?

Just thought of another question... will hardware cloth rust away if you bury it around the perimeter ? is it better to bury it outside the run OR dig and bury it under the run itself ? which is better and which will keep digging predators out the best ?

(sorry if this is the wrong place to address this... move if needed)

I use reg hardware cloth and has not rusted yet. I did cover the door and with an overlap cover the gaped around it. I dont burry the harware cloth cause i have seen rats dig under it even with it over a foot down in the ground, also it is hard if you ever want to move it. I cover the top bottom and sides at least 4 feet up. Costs a fortune in harware cloth (find a special place that can order it by the 100foot roll0 BUT ONCE IT IS DOWN YOU FEEL SO MUCH SAFER opps caps... Anyway i put at least 2-4 inches of sand ontop of the cloth on the bottom and then the run is supper easy to clean out as well.

Ok so you are building a little berm up around the walls of the kennel with sand? That sounds like a good idea. Because I really want to move my kennel around SOME.

Thank you all again for your condolences!

Now that is TEAM WORK!!! Nice critical thinking and problem solving team.

Sorry for your loss. May you have better luck in the future with predators.

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I use reg hardware cloth and has not rusted yet. I did cover the door and with an overlap cover the gaped around it. I dont burry the harware cloth cause i have seen rats dig under it even with it over a foot down in the ground, also it is hard if you ever want to move it. I cover the top bottom and sides at least 4 feet up. Costs a fortune in harware cloth (find a special place that can order it by the 100foot roll0 BUT ONCE IT IS DOWN YOU FEEL SO MUCH SAFER opps caps... Anyway i put at least 2-4 inches of sand ontop of the cloth on the bottom and then the run is supper easy to clean out as well.

Ok so you are building a little berm up around the walls of the kennel with sand? That sounds like a good idea. Because I really want to move my kennel around SOME.

Thank you all again for your condolences!

not so much a berm but I cover the entire floor of the run (above the harware cloth I layed down) with a few inches of sand. I usually have a company come and dump a few tons in the driveway and move it where I need it. Much cheaper this way as sand here is about $60 a ton. The sand allows drainage so it is never muddy and gross even in bad weather and keeps the harware cloth from hurting feet and allows for scratching. A small rake is great for cleaning up the poo and removing it. I usually put bricks around the perimeter outside the kennel to keep the sand in place or old pavers left over from a job.

often we forget that a night predator has about 10-12 hours in which to find a way in for a nice chicken meal, a lot can be figured out in that amount of time.

Good Luck!

Sorry to hear your loss... I pick up my hardware cloth this week. I also keep a little radio playing 24/7 in the coop/run as it makes the predators believe there is a human out with the birds.