Aviary mesh horizontal or vertical?

[MiloDaisyMissy]

Hi all. Simple question, Aviary mesh. Did you wrap your coop with it vertically or horizontally? I am doing a predator apron as well and have dug that out ready to go. But what did you all do? Would love pictures too!

 

[DobieLover]

Hi all. Simple question, Avery mesh. Did you wrap your coop with it vertically or horizontally? I am doing a predator apron as well and have dug that out ready to go. But what did you all do? Would love pictures too!

Avery mesh? Do you mean 1/2" hardware cloth? I'm going to make that assumption and go with it...

I framed out my run with 2x4s and posts set at 4' on center, ran my 1/2" hardware cloth vertically and left it in one long piece to extend flat out on the surface of the ground 18-24" to form the predator apron. No digging required. I just pinned the outer edges with HD landscape staples and covered the in-field with beach pebbles. I would not repeat the 'covering with beach pebbles' part if I were to do it again. Just let the grass grow through the cloth.

Burying it will shorten its life due to sitting in water vs just sitting on the surface of the soil.

 

[MiloDaisyMissy]

Avery mesh? Do you mean 1/2" hardware cloth? I'm going to make that assumption and go with it...

I framed out my run with 2x4s and posts set at 4' on center, ran my 1/2" hardware cloth vertically and left it in one long piece to extend flat out on the surface of the ground 18-24" to form the predator apron. No digging required. I just pinned the outer edges with HD landscape staples and covered the in-field with beach pebbles. I would not repeat the 'covering with beach pebbles' part if I were to do it again. Just let the grass grow through the cloth.
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Burying it will shorten its life due to sitting in water vs just sitting on the surface of the soil.

Wow your chook coop and run is goals! I love it, thank you for sharing! Yes, we call hardware cloth aviary mesh here, well. At least I do

Okay, great to know you did it vertically, I didn't know you could just leave it on top of the ground! I wish I saw this before I chose to start digging!! Thanks for sharing

 

[perkolator]

On my wood structure I used 4ft HC and installed vertically on my 4ft-spaced studs, to anchor and hide the seams. I stapled the top, rolled it down and added a few staples to hold it flat, cut it off with skirt length using grinder, then did final stapling every few inches and made it taught with my pneumatic stapler, and staked down the skirt on top of soil.

On my t-post and Ag fencing run I only needed it on the lower section to prevent raccoons from reaching inside. Installed 3ft HC horizontally in ~8-10ft sections, making a bend at the bottom for the skirt. Used galvanized wire as twist ties to hold it up, then went back in and "sewed" the seams and edges with the wire.

Digging down to bury the skirting is basically wasted labor IMO, you want the predator hitting barrier early to be discouraged from continuing to dig. You also don't want to cover it with stuff like rocks or pavers, which makes predator start digging further from the fence at the outer edge of the skirt