How important is it to have the run completely enclosed?

[Suburban Sprouts]

We have a nice sized chicken run, about 15' x 25' that is tight between our house and our neighbor's house. We have 6' high privacy fencing that goes all around it. We had not planned on putting netting/wire over the top of the run but I'm starting to get a little concerned...

I live in a suburban area in St. Louis, MO and most instances of predator-action I have seen has been foxes, but I'm sure there must be raccoons around.

Does anyone live in a similar type situation? As long as I coop up my hens at night, will they be okay? I know the "safest" thing would be just enclose the whole thing, but I also know some people get away with just a perimeter barrier.

Let me know if anyone has any specific insights or thoughts on it!

 

[Deanner03]

Ours isn't covered. We didn't have any problems last year. That doesn't mean we WON'T...but we didn't.

 

[Reinbeau]

Mesh isn't going to keep out raccoons. I've got my run covered with chicken wire, but that's for hawks, not for raccoons. They're locked up tight in the coop at night, when the raccoons are around - so far the run has held them safe during the day.

 

[mistyfeather]

we had a predater go up and over our fence last night and killed all 18 of my birds

hind sight says cover it

 

[Knowing Happiness]

There are reasons you see so many Fort Knox-looking chicken runs. Raccoons are the big one around here. We either have to have the top, bottom, and sides of the run completely sealed or lock the girls up in the coop at night.
If you decide to lock them up at night you might want to consider an automatic door unless you are both more reliable, and less prone to guilt trips than I am. Nothing says you are a bad chicken parent like losing an entire flock because you did not close the coop up one time!

 

[columbiacritter]

Putting them into a locked and sturdy coop at night is 1000 times better than netting over the top. Saying that I also have bird netting over my run for hawks during the day. Several times I've come home to torn netting and hawk feathers in the run. Once there was a grumpy redtail hawk standing in the run. The chickens were all unharmed hiding in the coop. It looked like he'd hit the net and been slowed down enough to fall through then been unable to get out through the same hole. He waited patiently until I'd taken down enough net he could fly away.

 

[bobbi-j]

Something else to consider - your chickens can fly out of the coop if you don't have netting over the top. We had a black lab once that figured out that if he ran around the coop enough, the chickens would panic and fly out. I'm planning on covering my run with chicken wire for hawk protection.

 

[BigSkyChickens]

We have hardware cloth over the top and also buried 1 and a half feet deep into the ground. We've got hawks and a ton of 'coons. The Fort Knox style run really helps me sleep at night.

This is a picture of the girls in the garden next to the run.
Enjoy your chickens and good luck.

 

[mistyfeather]

after last night we are tearing down the run and building a fort knox run , i dont ever want to have to tell my daughter that all of her chickens were killed again

its a terible thing to see your yard full of dead chicks

 

[TeriNick50]

@ Suburban Sprouts
When I lived in St Louis metro area, I saw a fox trotting down the middle of the subdivision's main road!
If you know there is a fox around, I suspect you can see hawks flying overhead and hear owls hooting at night. Don't under estimate the various predators that reside in your community.

Our pen is not "pretty." It is covered with chain link!
In your case, since you're sharing a perimeter with a neighbor, you may want to consider lattice.