Attached run - chicken wire/poultry netting OK?

[Ridgerunner]

Bantams are the best!!! Mary

Not enough meat on them Mary, just not enough meat.

MiC&G, one thing to watch for if you line the inside of that wire with something with smaller mesh, do not create pockets where a chick or larger chicken can get between the two wire meshes. I’ve had that happen. I’m not sure if the chicken got in through the end or from the top but close up those gaps.

I think that 1x2 is a good choice. It’s not perfect of course, it’s not a solid wall, it has limitations. It should stop the bigger things for getting in and the smaller ones are really hard to stop anyway. They can climb so well and squeeze through some really small holes. Things hardly ever go exactly as you plan so observe and be flexible, but I think you have a good base to build on.

 

[jthornton]

When I was fencing the run I used some chicken wire as a temporary fence while installing the 1x2 welded wire. I would roll it up as I went around the coop. On many occasions I would have to rescue a trapped chicken they would go into the spot between the rolled fence and the wire still being used as it got smaller they would just keep going and couldn't back out or didn't know how to back up.

JT

 

[aart]

Not enough meat on them Mary, just not enough meat.

Bite Sized!

Ditto on the cautions of layering of mesh.
Not only can they get trapped between layers,
the layers create varying sized holes they might get their heads stuck in and not be able to get back out of. BTDT with chicken wire inside 2x4 welded wire, killed a chick.

 

[Folly's place]

I had chick caught in a chicken wire edge, when my run was made of that stuff. I'm not a fan! Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

A lot of it is how you attach it, you could have some kind of problem with anything. I use furring strips over the edges where I can, cover the edges with strips of wood maybe 3/4" think and screwed on. That doesn't work if you don't have something to screw into. When attaching wire to wire I use J-clips when I can, hog rings some places, and zip ties other places. What I use depends on what I can use.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Not enough meat on them Mary, just not enough meat.

MiC&G, one thing to watch for if you line the inside of that wire with something with smaller mesh, do not create pockets where a chick or larger chicken can get between the two wire meshes. I’ve had that happen. I’m not sure if the chicken got in through the end or from the top but close up those gaps.

I think that 1x2 is a good choice. It’s not perfect of course, it’s not a solid wall, it has limitations. It should stop the bigger things for getting in and the smaller ones are really hard to stop anyway. They can climb so well and squeeze through some really small holes. Things hardly ever go exactly as you plan so observe and be flexible, but I think you have a good base to build on.

This past spring, I had a guinea fowl chick get its head stuck through chicken wire and it couldn't get it pulled back out again. I got to it some time later after it had flapped and squalled and struggled so much that the chicken wire had rubbed a place on its head/neck kind of raw. I helped it escape and it recovered OK. But I think if I had not been home to rescue it early on in the process, it might have died. So I am familiar with the ability of a silly little bird-brain to get into difficulties.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Pneumatic staples should work well, how long are they?
Too many could have perforated tearing/splitting effect tho.

Not sure the heat seal roofing will work today, lol...
...we're getting snow down here at 26F.

I've have spent many an hour standing at the hardware store thinking...thinking thinking, touching, measuring...nothing to be embarrassed about.

Do you have a build thread here..with pics of your progress??

A build thread and pictures would have been a fun idea - but alas, no. I have been trying so hard to get the thing built and out of my dad's barn that I haven't been taking time to document. The little ladies really want me to get it moving along too, since it started to snow last night. They are incredibly unimpressed with snow, and won't even venture out into the COVERED part of their run-out pen because like 1/4" of snow drifted into there. I hope they get a little used to snow and not so fussy about it. Otherwise, it will be a LONG winter. But the new coop will have lots more indoor floor and roosting and "window seat" space so that they can choose to stay inside if the snow continues to unimpress.

 

[Molpet]

I bought 1"x2" welded wire. Much heavier gauge than hardware cloth and chicken wire, and (I THINK) openings small enough to keep out the major predators I am concerned about in our area. We don't have large snakes, and weasels are very rare. The things I have to be worried about are dogs, foxes, coyotes, possums, raccoons, hawks/owls. If we have any little chicks, we'll have to keep them elsewhere until they're bigger, or run a line of hardware cloth around the bottom of the pen. But I'm hoping I have made a usable, affordable selection.

FYI
I had someone relocate a few possums(followed back tracks in the snow to car tracks)...that I found in the poultry yard in the middle of the day... The smallest one went THROUGH the 2x4 perimeter fence as I chased him...The others were climbing back out the fence when I caught them.
My resident possums don't bother getting in the poultry yard because of the dog.

 

[aart]

A build thread and pictures would have been a fun idea - but alas, no. I have been trying so hard to get the thing built and out of my dad's barn that I haven't been taking time to document. The little ladies really want me to get it moving along too, since it started to snow last night. They are incredibly unimpressed with snow, and won't even venture out into the COVERED part of their run-out pen because like 1/4" of snow drifted into there. I hope they get a little used to snow and not so fussy about it. Otherwise, it will be a LONG winter. But the new coop will have lots more indoor floor and roosting and "window seat" space so that they can choose to stay inside if the snow continues to unimpress.

You could always do a thread or article later if you took some pics along the way....or even just the final version.
Yeah, they don't much like the snow.....some will get used to it, some won't.
I shovel out part of run anyway and some times toss a thin layer of straw out...or some treats.

 

[CorvusFarm]

Deer fencing isn't that expensive and is worth considering. It's definitely heavy duty, but still flexible enough that it isn't too hard to work with. It also depends on how big the run is. I have a 2400 square foot run, so there was no way I could afford hardware cloth all around it. I got a 200' roll of 8' fencing for under $200. The graduated gaps from bottom to top help keep predators at bay like skunks and cats that can slink through. And the heavier-gauge wire is strong enough to keep most any predator out. Where I am in California, I have to contend with coyotes, loose domesticated dogs (the neighbor runs a dog training/boarding facility), skunks, bobcats, farm cats, foxes, and avian predators like hawks and owls.

So far so good.