Attaching Hardware Cloth to ?

[arkrescue]

I am not new to BYC, I chose to re-register to update my user name. I was TyronesMommy before, although I wasn't very active in the posting area really. Anywho ....

We built a new pen/coop last year and installed 1/2 " (or was it 1"?) hardware cloth (metal) under the ground to prevent predators from tunneling under to get inside. We ended up moving unexpectedly 2 months ago

and found ourselves needing to dig that hardware cloth out of the ground when we took the pen apart to move it. What a job that was! In the process of digging out the hardware cloth we discovered that some good sized critters (bigger than rats) had tunneled under the hardware cloth and the ground above the hardware cloth fell through in some places which allowed food to fall through the hardware cloth (funny how the critter knew just where to target the digging LOL.

We are going to setup the pen/coop again in a new location where it won't be feasible for us to bury the hardware cloth under the ground, so we plan to lay the hardware cloth down as the floor to the area, then add about 4-6" of bedding as a soft floor. We have the metal roofing along with the skylight panels to keep the area dry (mostly - blowing rain could get in). Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to secure the hardware cloth in place? Should we staple it to the wood frame of the enclosure? Or should we extend it beyond the pen area and fasten it to the ground somehow?

Thanks,

Lisa
Lisa's Ark Critter Rescue
www.LisasArk.org
making a difference

 

[Intheswamp]

Why can't you bury the wire at your new location? Rock, cement, rental agreement, ?????

Ed

 

[arkrescue]

yup, this is a rental property and not sure how long we'll be there. After what we had to go through to dig the hardware cloth out of the ground, I'll save that type of installation for a property I own.

 

[M To The Maxx]

As long as you keep your coop door shut at night you won't have a problem.

 

[debbie.h]

We took some metal clothes hangers and cut them to make anchor pins then placed them every so often around the fence line. They average about four inches long and hold in the ground really well.

 

[arkrescue]

> As long as you keep your coop door shut at night you won't have a problem.

Well that sounds like a simple solution to a potentially complicated problem though

...... I was hoping to keep most critters out like rodents and predators. The wire I use for my sides is pretty small, so anything bigger than that can't get inside to eat the chickens, the chicken food, or contaminate the pen. My chickens have a 3 part area - the coop they sleep in, the pen area which has a roof and bedding, and the run where they can get to pasture grasses but still be contained within a fence and have netting to deter birds-of-prey.

 

[arkrescue]

debbie.h :

We took some metal clothes hangers and cut them to make anchor pins then placed them every so often around the fence line. They average about four inches long and hold in the ground really well.

wow sounds like that could work - thanks !

 

[Keri78]

Why not just staple it across the bottom of your coop? Now you got me thinkin about what critters are trying to get into my coops!(haven't ever seen any signs but they must be out there!)

 

[arkrescue]

Quote:
Hmmmm I do believe that could work since I plan to cover the ENTIRE bottom and not just the 12-18" on either side of the edge as I have seen described to save $$ on how much hardware cloth you have to buy. I believe I paid around $50 a roll for the 4'x 25' rolls. My pen was 12' x 56', so I had to buy many more rolls than I imagined I would need. I still didn't get the entire pen covered though - maybe about 80%. I didn't have any losses, but I did see where critters (mice, rats, & something BIGGER) had burrowed under the wood coops and ate holes in the walls in the area that didn't have the hardware cloth.

We have the following predators that like to kill/eat chickens: weasel, fox, skunk, raccoon, opossum, snake, and various birds of prey of course. The rodents like to eat the food and contaminate the area. I have heard horror stories from locals that find their chickens dead after an attack, and so far I have not lost a chicken to a predator (3 years).

 

[Hen_House_Rocks!]

We stapled our to the wooden frame along the bottom. It's worked fine so far.