Just a suggestion you can also landscape and build planters around your runs and coops.It prevents large animals from getting down close to the wire and digging underneath them.Cheaper than burying so much wire and more effective.My planters come out another foot and are over a foot tall filled with garden soil.Lay hardware cloth down on the ground before you make them.
Good luck! It's a lot of work. The pen I'm building now is actually for my ducks, and I'm having to do it quickly because I've got 22 3-week old chicks on my back porch that are gonna be too big to be on the back porch in about a week. They will all live in a big shed I bought, but I'm doing a hardware cloth wall in the middle and then a big run on each side where they can come and go as they please. My original plan was one run for all animals, but I have too many drakes, and I'm afraid they'll bug my chicken hens. They will hopefully get to free-range together when I can supervise them due to the fox issue. . I'll probably eventually add to the duck run to make it bigger (when it's cooler outside and life is a little slower), but right now my goal is just security so I can get them outside ASAP. The run is about 20 x 16 feet, give or take. They're living in the building now with limited outside time (only when supervised), and I know they want to be out as much as possible. I would have had all of this finished sooner, but my mom got really sick, so that's kind of put me in a jam with all of it. Thankfully, I ordered a ton of hardware cloth a few months ago, so I just need to go pick up some lumber tomorrow to attach it to the fence posts and get my apron finished, and I should be finished..for now.
Like you said...the dogs don't understand backing up and digging in front of the planters or digging far enough to get their bodies under the wood .
My sons has teased me non-stop about spending so much time making a small coop and run for 6 chickens but thats plenty .lol
My dad has done the same thing! But let me tell you...it has taken me three days to get two walls up, and I was about to throw in the towel today. I wanted to have the ducks in the run today! My uncle came over to see what I was doing, and he showed me that I'm using the wrong screws. It was such a struggle to get them into the wood that I would go to be dreading working the next day because my wrists hurt so badly! He showed me the right screws to use and they just glide right into the posts. Sigh. But he's also going to help me with the roof, which was my biggest worry, so I am thankful for that!
I now order 5 lbs at a time off of Amazon after learning where to buy them cheapest and what kind to buy (I learned the hard way too!) Glad you're getting some help on the roof and admire your determination ! You'll get it done soon!
