Hello, all!
I am jumping from a flock of 10, to hopefully a flock of much bigger!
My new chicken building is built. it is enormous and could house prolly 100 birdies. I prolly won't go that high right out of the gate...but I digress.
I am currently working on predator-proofing. My current setup is VERY primitive, but very effective. It's essentially a 3 layered bastion: a closed henhouse, raised high, and enclosed in a netted, aproned, roofed structure, and then surrounded by electronet. I would stay with this setup, but I flunked chicken math. (And its roof is just a tarp, which so does not work here.)
My new setup so far, is a giant 13' x 24' pole barn with a dirt floor. My plan is to surround its perimeter with 1/2" x 1/2" 16 gauge hardware cloth, and to extend this apron 2.5' all around, to dissuade diggers. It's deciding the gauge and hole size of the hardware cloth to use on its 3 big doors and the windows that I am struggling with.
I live in the middle of nowhere. Predators include foxes, coyotes, bears, fishers, raccoons, possum, bald eagles, hawks, dogs, cats and most likely weasels. All of them. And it's remote here, and surrounded by woods. If I have to go away for a few days, predators become more bold in my absence. So I want to do this right for my new setup.
Between what I can find and how to get it here, I am struggling. I feel that spending extra for better hardware cloth is a good investment--particularly for the doors (which will remain open almost always--I am a proponent of fresh air poultry houses) and the 2 bigger windows I have. I am literally driving myself nuts knowing that all predators have to do all day, is to get food and nothing else. Anyway.
So here's what I'm struggling with: Would a 14 gauge/1/2" x 1" opening/Made in USA/galvanized AFTER welding hardware cloth be the more effective choice for the door openings, rather than 1/2" x 1/2" 16 gauge? IF the company just had it as 1/2" x 1/2" in the 14 gauge, I wouldn't hesitate. But they don't, nor can I find any!
The windows are off the ground, but the doors are a different matter. I want the stronger gauge here, but the hole opening size is freaking me out. I will be enclosing the yard around the structure with electro-net as well, if that helps to know.
Tackling what I will do for flying predators can be another post! Right now, i just want to know that I'm putting money in the right places. It's that half inch that I am worried about...I KNOW I could just do a double layer (and I may do that), but if I am shelling out for the better stuff...
Thoughts and opinions and experiences appreciated!!
~Piskie
I am jumping from a flock of 10, to hopefully a flock of much bigger!
My new chicken building is built. it is enormous and could house prolly 100 birdies. I prolly won't go that high right out of the gate...but I digress.
I am currently working on predator-proofing. My current setup is VERY primitive, but very effective. It's essentially a 3 layered bastion: a closed henhouse, raised high, and enclosed in a netted, aproned, roofed structure, and then surrounded by electronet. I would stay with this setup, but I flunked chicken math. (And its roof is just a tarp, which so does not work here.)
My new setup so far, is a giant 13' x 24' pole barn with a dirt floor. My plan is to surround its perimeter with 1/2" x 1/2" 16 gauge hardware cloth, and to extend this apron 2.5' all around, to dissuade diggers. It's deciding the gauge and hole size of the hardware cloth to use on its 3 big doors and the windows that I am struggling with.
I live in the middle of nowhere. Predators include foxes, coyotes, bears, fishers, raccoons, possum, bald eagles, hawks, dogs, cats and most likely weasels. All of them. And it's remote here, and surrounded by woods. If I have to go away for a few days, predators become more bold in my absence. So I want to do this right for my new setup.
Between what I can find and how to get it here, I am struggling. I feel that spending extra for better hardware cloth is a good investment--particularly for the doors (which will remain open almost always--I am a proponent of fresh air poultry houses) and the 2 bigger windows I have. I am literally driving myself nuts knowing that all predators have to do all day, is to get food and nothing else. Anyway.
So here's what I'm struggling with: Would a 14 gauge/1/2" x 1" opening/Made in USA/galvanized AFTER welding hardware cloth be the more effective choice for the door openings, rather than 1/2" x 1/2" 16 gauge? IF the company just had it as 1/2" x 1/2" in the 14 gauge, I wouldn't hesitate. But they don't, nor can I find any!
The windows are off the ground, but the doors are a different matter. I want the stronger gauge here, but the hole opening size is freaking me out. I will be enclosing the yard around the structure with electro-net as well, if that helps to know.
Tackling what I will do for flying predators can be another post! Right now, i just want to know that I'm putting money in the right places. It's that half inch that I am worried about...I KNOW I could just do a double layer (and I may do that), but if I am shelling out for the better stuff...
Thoughts and opinions and experiences appreciated!!
~Piskie
