Before I Build...

[sneakychickens]

Last summer we had to evacuate or property for 9 days due to a forrest fire. During that time we housed our 43 chickens in my sister-in-law's garage and it's attached dog run. We were concerned that the fence of the dog run was too low, particularly because the run had a steep slope and we could envision the chickens flying from the high part of the run over the low part of the fence. Because the run was built with tubular steel fence posts, covered by chain link fence, I sent my husband to Home Depot looking for something like bamboo posts that we could fit down inside the tubular fence posts and then attach some sort of netting to the bamboo to extend the height of the fence. Instead, he came home with 3' T-style metal fence posts...the kind you hammer down into the ground. There was a good 12-15" of post below the "t" that is usually hammered into the ground that slid nicely into the existing tubular fence posts, leaving 2 or 3 feet of extention on the top that we could zip-tie plastic netting to. It wasn't as pretty or permanent a solution as you will probably be wanting, but if you have those tubular fence posts, you may be able to do something similar, slipping PVC pipe or bamboo or even those metal fence posts inside your existing posts to make them taller.

The photos shows a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. Again, it wasn't pretty and it wasn't a permanent solution, but it worked for the 9 days we were evacuated from our home. The cloth on the fence was an attempt to provide some shade, because it was brutally hot and sunny while we were there.

That's a brilliant idea! I'll have to check and see if I can yank the tops off of our fence posts. Did your extensions wobble at all inside the original posts?

 

[sneakychickens]

Chicken wire will keep chickens in, but won't keep predators out. . . in town would likely be dogs, cats, racoons, possums.
Do a ton of reading to see the pros and cons of materials and layouts while you wait to see what you legal status is, which could change your plans too.
Good Luck!

We definitely have all of those critters running around. Do you think that hardware cloth would be better overlaying the chainlink? I'd love to do that, if I can find some cloth somewhere for a little less!

 

[sneakychickens]

PVC is definitely a good option, too. Do you think that I could use chicken wire for the roof of the run, or does that run too much of a risk? It's lighter than hardware cloth, so it would probably be easier to rig, but I don't want to do it if it's not going to be safe enough.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I have two chicken runs. One is my permanent run for my layers. The other is my mobile tractor/run that I used to raise a bunch of meat birds last year. The permanent run I covered with chicken wire...sides and top, but then, having read horror stories on this forum about dogs going right through chicken wire, I reinforced the bottom 2 or 3' with hardware cloth. (see photo)




When I built the tractor/run, I covered the bottom 3' with hardware cloth and the top with chicken wire. Having heard other horror stories about racoons that reach through chicken wire and grab a chicken's leg and pull it to the fence and then eat parts of it right through the fence, I also did not place any roosts near the chicken wire above the 3' level.

I also used PVC pipe for the roof of the mobile run (see photo of unfinished mobile run)





We live in the mountains of Colorado where there are bears, mountain lions, bobcats, racoons, coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks, skunks...what am I forgetting...pine martens (big weasel) and occasional neighbor dogs.

I figure that nothing will keep out a bear or mountain lion that really wants my chickens, but so far no problems there. I did loose one chicken to a bobcat, but that was while it was out free ranging, and while the bobcat has come back several times that I have seen, it has not been successful in breaking in...assuming it has tried.

Again, I had a break in and something killed 4 of my Freedom Rangers, but that was actually at night when they were in the mini-van part of the mobile coop/run not into the run itself. So, While I can not guarantee that chicken wire one the roof of your run will keep your chickens safe, I have not had any problem.

I think chicken wire over chain link would probably do the trick too...other than the idea of a racoon reaching through the chicken wire. You might check on the "preadator and pest" thread and ask whether racoon attacts only happen at night, when the chickens are safe in the coop, or whether folks have had issues during the day.

As for your question about whether or not the extentions wobbled...if memory serves, each of the tubular fence posts had a slightly different fit. Some were very snug and the extentions had to be forced into the tube, in others, the extention slipped in very nicely and perhaps in some there was a bit of a wobble. I suspect it depended on whether there were any dents or bends in the tube. I don't think wobbling would be a big issue if you were willing to drop a few pebbles into any loose ones. PVC pipe, on the other hand might be a bit different. If you were going to bend the pipe, like I did in my mobile run, a bit of wiggle (or wobble) room might be a plus.

 

[backyardcelia]

I would be careful burying chicken wire. In my experience, it lasts very little time if you bury it, considering how caustic chicken poop is. I have had it rust away to nothing in less than a year, when it was buried. It is better to use 1"x4"'s and staple it to the board, and attach the boards to the posts. Since you already have a chainlink fence, I would simply ziptie the bottom of the chicken wire to the bottom of the chainlink. In your case, boards and burying wire isn't necessary.

I'm worried about that, too. If I bury anything, it'll be hardware cloth or vinyl coated hardware cloth. I'm thinking I'll just ziptie and bury, like you said.

burying chicken wire still a good idea for extra predator perimeter??? ( i have a coop that's also supposed to be a tractor, but you would need a tractor to pull it!, so there are little gaps where it forms that sled-like foot... so i did that burying chicken wire like a moat thing.... and i was already wondering how long is that gonna last!? i wonder if some of the stuff 'they' suggest isn't just to make us feel better in the inevitable mishap, at least we can say, "well at least we tried")

and what about hog wire instead? i know it's expensive, but so is my aching back if i have to keep replacing deterrents... any thoughts on hog wire?

 

[TW1Kell]

I have 4 tractors for my Bantams and have never lost anyone out of them. I have used them for about a year. They are all "bottomed" with 2" hex chicken wire. I have seen the "bottomless" tractors and "yardpens", and have heard too many horror stories about dogs simply knocking them over. Chickens have no trouble at all scratching ground thru 2" hex wire.