BDutch's bantam flock & natural breeding projects #5 🪺 🪺 and #6

[BDutch]

Today was chicken run labour day.

HWC broken
When we build the gazebo / party run, we thought to be clever to put part of the 1/2 “ hardware cloth in the ground.
This would prevent predators from digging under the fence.

Ten years later, we realized we'd made the wrong choice. The wire mesh under the ground rusted and broke right at the ground level.

A few months ago, we added a new, thicker, 2.5 cm / 1” wire mesh to the east side.

Last week we discovered the same happened at the backside where we added a second run later. No risk of predators getting in there but another problem occurred. Sharp pins were sticking out.

Today I removed the old hwc in between the two runs as much as possible. To my surprise it completely rusted away and mostly disappeared in the ground. To be sure the chickens don’t hurt their feet digging for goodies we added old rabbitfences flat on the ground and added some soil on top.

Now we have just one run. Which is fine for the time being. If we ever need to divide the run again (chicks) we need to add new hwc or netting.

The chickens were very curious and if I start digging the chickens always like to help me, of course. Glad I have no injured chickens.

I have been so busy to repair the run, I forgot to take a few photos.

 

[Molpet]

BYC Will Be Unavailable Monday Morning.
Thread '2025-09 BYC Update Thread ' https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/2025-09-byc-update-thread.45017/

 

[Perris]

When we build the gazebo / party run, we thought to be clever to put part of the 1/2 “ hardware cloth in the ground.
This would prevent predators from digging under the fence.

Ten years later, we realized we'd made the wrong choice. The wire mesh under the ground rusted and broke right at the ground level.

This is a very common recommendation with coop construction; thank you so much for the warning about what happened to it long term. Seems obvious now you've pointed it out, but it wasn't obvious before. So thanks again

 

[kattabelly]

Running a bar along just above ground level makes it easier to replace chicken wire or hardware cloth when the buried part rusts, without having to redo the whole lot.

I would've gone a few inches lower here but I didn't build this. The chicken wire was rusted away at ground level but fine everywhere else, so I just dug a trench and fixed new mesh from that wooden bar down. (Aware chicken wire isn't predator-proof in a lot of places but it's fine here.)

 

[BDutch]

I intend to replace the rabbit fences with pavers on the spot/line where the hwc rusted away. We have a few pavers (10 x 10 cm) in stock from another project. Buying extra only cost a few euro’s. This is better for a more permanent solution to be sure the chickens wont hurt their feet.

We made the run-extension with special chicken wire. Normal chicken wire has 5 cm wide honey-rate openings. Mine has only 2.5 cm wide openings. It holds back most predators including weasels and such. It’s much cheaper than the square hwc.

 

[BDutch]

The new run

No wilderness behind our garden anymore. They have been mowing the green today.

 

[BDutch]

Yesterday I gathered all small pavers we had laying in different places.
It was enough to fix a line of pavers where used to be hwc.

Because the hwc in the ground rusted I thought it would be safer if the chickens cant scratch here. Looks/is a lot better than the rabbit fences.

 

[Perris]

I think that was a great idea. Looks very nice too!