Burying hardware cloth vs. skirting and covering with paver

First time chicken owner , been lurking here for a few months, reading, and learning. Thanks to all who have taken time to post so others can learn! DH and I are working on the coop and run now, we have 3 week old chicks growing by leaps and bounds.

I've noticed that most people bury the hardware cloth, and some skirt it out a few feet and cover with rocks or pavers, sometimes with just dirt. Can anyone give me some pros and cons of each, learned from experience? I like the idea of not having to dig a trench, but if I go with the skirting is the pavers on top of the wire really secure? We have racoons, possums, dogs, and cats in the area.

Thanks for the help for a newbie!

I personally wouldn't trust the skirting just because it can eventually be lifted up if something is determined enough. But then again, something can be determined enough to dig an extra foot or 2 to bypass the buried hardwire cloth too lol.

I avoided that issue altogether by putting my coops up on patio block.

Check my BYC page to see it. No diggers yet in two years!

I make an L around my outside run and coop of hardware cloth. I put dirt over the bottom of the L. I put the wire into the soil about a foot and then L it out. We have dogs, mink,weasel, fox, coyotes, bobcat etc. I want to have a fighting chance for my hens. So far this has worked. I always close them into their coop at night. I think that is the most important. Out of sight, out of mind. They don't try as hard to get to them. I also have just reg. chicken wire over the top of the run. We have hawks. We live near a national forest so we have most things. So far since last summer at least all is well. Gloria Jean

Of course the main big thing is, how good a job has been done on either

If you want a really digproof buried fence, it needs to go down 18" (possibly deeper if you've already had significant problems with dogs/foxes digging under), be made of as heavy-gauge a material as you can get (for which reason, chickenwire=bad, hardwarecloth=enh; you want something thicker, really) and galvanized.

Pros of burial: Works ok if deep/strong enough. And leaves nothing interfering with your use of soil surface along run, if you wanted to garden there.

Cons of burial: Huge amount of labor involved. Not practical in all soils/sites. Buried mesh will disintegrate (you can pour concrete instead of burying wire... but that is very expensive and laborious if you're doing a proper depth, and will frostheave and break up in northern climates). Yes, galvanized wire rusts. The heavier the gauge, the longer it takes til it's weak enough for something to break through, which is why I strongly advocate a heavy gauge wire mesh for this purpose. But it'll ALL rust eventually. Which leads to the final con, you will have no idea what kind of shape the stuff is in as time goes by, inspecting it requires digging, and replacing /repairing/bolstering it will require the same big excavation that you had to do in the first place.

If you're going to put in an apron, it should be heavy gauge galvanized mesh (just like a buried fence) (although, light gauge mesh can be easily inspected/replaced if necessary) and should extend ideally 2-4' out from the base of the fence, depending how many of what sort of digging critters you're concerned about. And it needs to be well fastened into the ground, by thoroughly pinning it down and letting the turf grow up through it, or by covering it with big pavers or large rocks or concrete rubble, or by peeling back the turf and laying it underneath. In particular the *edge* should be concealed, both to keep you from hurting yourself and to keep that one in a thousand predator from having A Thought.

Pros of an apron: Not much work, compared to burying the bottom of the fence. Easy to inspect/repair/replace as desired/necessary. Suitable for virtually all situation, even if you are on bedrock or tree root filled earth.

Cons of an apron: prevents gardening along run. May be some work to fit if there are lots of tree trunks or fenceposts or whatever where the apron would have to lie. [Also, not a concern for hardly anyone, there are one or two extremely experienced, 'professional' red foxes in the world that have learned to back up and tunnel under. You probably don't have one of these, but if you do, you want either a WIIIDE apron or a DEEEEEPLY buried fence (because foxes can also dig *down* several feet with ease...)]

As long as the apron is really tied to the ground well, not just lying there loose, and the edge is concealed/fastened well, it is as safe as a buried fence.

So it mostly comes down to, which do you want to install and live with.

To me, and I *like* digging holes/ditches, it is a no-brainer, the apron is a lot better bang for your 'buck', for most situations. But, personal choice.

HTH,

Pat

Very clear. Thanks--I copied this to my computer for future reference.

Thanks! So if I'm understanding this correctly, you definitely shouldn't use chicken wire, and hardware cloth is OK, but something heavier gauged is even better? Do you put the hardware cloth over this heavier gauge until you reach ground level and start the apron? Or is there heavier gauge that will keep things out above ground level?

Hope this makes sense.

Personally, I'm for easy. Do the skirting, and add electric fence wire at 6" and 18."

Oh, and load the .22