Opinion on this screening

[Kaesi2020]

Hi everyone, my husband and I are away until tomorrow. We left our chickens in their extended run which has trench and screening all around it. The screening the run is made of above ground is attached in the following photo. Could a cat squeeze through this? We saw a cat on our security camera kind of patrolling the area and we were curious if the chickens are safe in their enclosure. Nothing can dig under but we are curious if the cat could squeeze through. Thoughts? I could always have my neighbor lock them up till we return....

 

[azygous]

Cats won't slip through a two inch fencing mesh, but lots of other predators can. Weasels and minks, rats, possums, snakes, and raccoons with a long reach can grab a chicken and yank it toward the fence and tear off limbs. While the chicken is still alive. Then there are the aerial predators that can drop into the run from above. And then the climbers - foxes, bob cats, raccoons, and some dogs.

This is a classic instance of obsessing over one danger while neglecting to consider an entire range of threats.

 

[Kaesi2020]

Cats won't slip through a two inch fencing mesh, but lots of other predators can. Weasels and minks, rats, possums, snakes, and raccoons with a long reach can grab a chicken and yank it toward the fence and tear off limbs. While the chicken is still alive. Then there are the aerial predators that can drop into the run from above. And then the climbers - foxes, bob cats, raccoons, and some dogs.

This is a classic instance of obsessing over one danger while neglecting to consider an entire range of threats.

Thanks for your reply and feedback. I wouldn't say we are obsessing over one danger, just looking for some feedback on this one immediate situation with the cat in the yard. We definitely plan on upgrading our screening sometime soon.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Long term you will be best served with 19 gauge minimum 1/2 inch hardware cloth. I found some on sale on Amazon for less than the big box stores, pays to shop around.

 

[Folly's place]

And welded wire is not as strong as woven wire. Add hardware cloth on the bird side of your welded wire, if you can, for actual predator protection. And fencing staples to the framing, with boards screwed in on top of the wire layers, so critters can't tear it all off the framing.
Mary

 

[cmom]

I used welded wire because of the cost and amount of wire I had to buy but I also put up chicken wire and have had no issues. Good luck...