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need help constructing predator protection

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ceeceerod

ceeceerod

In the Brooder
7 Years
Feb 14, 2012
27
1
34
hi i am new to raising chickens and i need your help. i am getting my coop on a couple of weeks and it will have a small run that is composed of chicken wire. i have a 6 foot stockade fence that surrounds my property. i do have raccoons, foxes, etc in the area. will these pesky neighbors try and dig under the chicken wire enclosure? if so how do i fortify my run? i will let them roam the property when i am home during the day. thanks in advance for any suggestions. i cant wait to get my chickies!
 
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It's always better to be safe than sorry. I only use half inch hardware cloth on all my coops & an apron on the bottom to keep predators from digging in. Coons can rip thru the chicken wire. Here's my set up might help you see how I installed my apron.
 
Chicken wire will not keep anything out!!! and almost any predator will dig under a run in minutes. We are just building our run now and I will post pictures soon. We also are using 1/2" heavy duty hardware cloth. We dug a 2 foot trench around the perimeter in order to bury the chicken wire under the ground. Will back fill the trench with at least 1' of large river rock and then back fill with dirt. We have every chicken predator known to man around here and I still have terrible memories of losing several childhood flocks to predators. I also continually read horror stories on this site that make me want to build as strong of a coop as possible. Will post pictures when it stops pouring outside.
 
I agree with OldGuy, The best thing to do is put up a electric fence.

As for "Hardware Cloth" being better than "Chicken Wire", I would say they have about the same predator protection it just take a little longer to get threw the "Hardware Cloth".


Chris
 
The Night Guard flashing LEDs work wonders to ward off would be predators at night, Chicken wire is cheap and it will keep your chickens in, but it will not keep predators out. Like others have said 1/2 hardware cloth work well and will even keep rats out of your feed.

Make sure your coop (roost location) is predator proof at night even if your chicken run is not.
 
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i am also thinking of putting it close to the house and i am only getting 3 chickens. how bad is the smell? i intend to keep up on the cleaning.
 
I have electric fence around one of my coops & its good but I worry about fires & power outages. Hardware cloth is the way to go but is very expensive . Chicken wire is not predator proof a coon can rip it open no problem. Another problem you will be faced with when using hot wire is making sure nothing comes in contact with the wire anything touching the wire will ground it out.
 

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