Help me decide: Cattle panels + 1/4 inch cloth, or just cloth

[violamama]

I am building a run (finally, GEEZE!) for our chickens on a slope below their coop shed.

It will be about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. It will eventually have a roof at the top and wire over the rest.

Here are my options:
1. Use 1/4 inch hardware cloth on the whole thing, and make it about 5 feet tall with a foot of cloth buried as a skirt.

2. Use a combination of cloth and cattle fence panels (something like these: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/feedlot-panel-cattle-16-ft-l-x-50-in-h), which I was planning to attach at ground level near the top of the slope next to the coop and have run level so by the bottom of the slope there is about 3 feet of space below them to the ground. That big long triangle shape between ground and panel would then be covered with cloth for predator proofing.

I'm wondering: Would it be simpler to work in one material on the whole project (1/4 inch cloth) or would the simplicity and non-skin-slicing nature of the cattle panels be a relief from working with that cloth stuff? How saggy is the 1/4 inch cloth if we're just stapling it to 4x4 posts every 5 feet? We plan to have horizontal rails and top rails, too.

This run is going to be daytime only, but I have heard weasels are active around our neighborhood. We've seen a little shy bobcat and there are tons of coyotes, raccoons and skunks (the last two I've only ever seen out and about at night and only rarely). None have bothered the ladies when free-ranging with us working in the yard or in their coop at night.

Also, does anybody know of a good deal on 1/4 cloth right now?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[TattooedChicks]

Personally, I’ve been using the cattle panel method as my main form of security with hawk netting as a roof and draped over the sides to keep all manner of critters out of my run and the birds secure inside. It’s done well against the hawks and any other suburban vermin that might be about during the day. With the cattle panels, 1/4 inch might be over kill all but for the buried skirt, though extra security is never really a bad thing.

 

[Birdinhand]

why not just use 1/2" hardware cloth and no cattle panel? thick gauge HC should do the trick and 1/2" keeps out everything including rats. I'd go down 2', at a 45% angle away from the coop to keep out the diggers.

 

[violamama]

Thanks for the input! I guess I had read on the forums about 1/4 inch being the standard.

I'm glad to hear you've had success with the panels, Tattooedchick. I do think they seem easier to put up and they look usually look more polished with no sagging if combined with wood frames. This run will be in our side-yard, visible from our living room. I can get this set for this winter within my budget and then next spring add a better roof with a slope up so it's easier to walk in there.

Plus, maybe next year I can make a matching garden fence out the front of the coop and panels would make more sense there.

 

[aart]

The cattle panels will provide a framing structure.....
....if you use just HC you'll need some kind of framing to attach it too.

Agrees 1/2" HC is better than 1/4".

Apron is easier and more effective than burying part of mesh wall.
Good examples, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm fond of cattle panels. If you go with them, try to work with the dimensions they come in: make your run 16' W x 32' L. You could follow the grade of the slope, and just overlap the panels to the side of the building to make up the for the slope grade. As for the slope, you can actually use that for an advantage, though it is a bit steep.

This is what I'd do: I'd build the run, using either CP or standard fence post construction. Then, depending on your budget, complete the fencing with 1/2" HW cloth, 1 x 2 welded fencing, or even chicken wire, realizing that the chicken wire will not keep out a determined predator. No matter what you use, you'll want a skirt.

Now, here comes the challenge, the fun, and the benefit of working with your slope: Turn that space into a deep litter run. Put your DL materials into the top of the run, and the birds will have a blast shuffling through those materials. As they do so, those materials will gradually migrate down to the bottom of the run. At the bottom of the run, you build in a couple of clean out doors. By the time the material collects down there, it should be pretty well broken down into compost. Now, let's hope your garden is AT THE BOTTOM of that slope! Cause if it's not, you're gonna need to build an elevator to get all that compost up to the top of the hill!

You will definitely need to cover your run. If you don't your birds will use the slope to an advantage. They'll take off at the top of the hill, and fly like a flapping hang glider. I bet they will get some pretty good distance with this set up!

I use cattle panels for all sorts of things: garden fencing, CP coop, CP green house, trellising. One of the greatest aids for working with CP are these little connectors. I love them. It makes it super easy to connect panels at any angle, and it can be either a permanent or temporary set up: https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/wire-panel-connector-hinge?cat_id=178

 

[lazy gardener]

After ruminating on this run set up last night, given the steep slope, I have an other suggestion for you. In addition to doing the DL, you might want to terrace that run. given the bird's digging behavior, that slope is going to be a prime candidate for erosion, unless that slope is full of rocks that would help to hold the soil in place. You could terrace with 2 x 10 (hemlock recommended) rock (gutbreaking) or logs if you have plenty of trees/dead wood that can be used. You also might want to hot wire your run. Looks like great wild life habitat.

 

[aart]

In addition to doing the DL, you might want to terrace that run. given the bird's digging behavior, that slope is going to be a prime candidate for erosion, unless that slope is full of rocks that would help to hold the soil in place.

Even if erosion isn't a concern, the bedding will all end up at the low end.
My run has a sight slope, maybe 6-8" over 30',
and the bedding 'moves' with help from the birds scratching.
I've thought about some terracing, but need to take water run off movement into consideration as well.

 

[Birdinhand]

living on a steep slope with chickens, I third the terracing suggestions, some cheap set back bricks from home depot do wonders if only retaining up to 4'.