Bury or not to bury??

[ebjeffers]

I will start building soon. Do I have to bury the fencing material in to the ground? I live in a city area but back-up tp a tree line. I have 6' privacy fencing. Just trying to get idea's.

 

[al6517]

Always bury always, otherwise you will be just like the others who don't then post..... Oh no something got my chickens. better safe than sorry.

AL

 

[darkmatter]

Yes, bury. I had to redo mine cause of predators/corrosion of fencing. I used plastic coated fencing buried six inches and then fastened the chicken wire to that with an overlap. You can see my BYC page for pics of the fencing.

 

[elmo]

Instead of burying wire, you can lay a wire apron flat on the ground outwards around the perimeter, attached securely to the vertical side of your run. Stake it down with landscaping staples. Much easier, and I think perhaps even more secure. When you bury wire, there's always the possibility that a determined predator will just continue digging down until it manages to get under the wire you've buried, especially if you only go down a few inches.

With a wire apron, the predator starts digging at the bottom of the fence, hits the wire, and is stymied. It doesn't think about backing up two feet and starting to dig beyond the edge of the wire apron. At least I've never heard about a predator figuring that one out.

 

[WisconsinChickenWhisperer]

I live on just shy of half an acre, in town, houses all around me, 1/2 a block off of the highway. We have at least 2 families of fox living here. I buried my wire when I built my run, and I am thankful that I did. A little over a week ago, said fox tried for 2 nights to get under my fence and into my run. After the second night, my DD and I went and got a whole car load of large, heavy rocks and placed them around the outside perimeter of the fence. Knock on wood, so far there has been no evidence of the fox coming back. Please bury your fence, or, if you choose to do the apron method, lay some rock over the top of the apron. It's a little more work, but worth it in the long run.

 

[Dora'smom]

Bury your fence. My husband fussed and moaned and procrastinated when we were building the run on the old coop. Eventually he did bury the hardware cloth, and made an underground apron. It's been over a year and a half, with no losses. Last night there was a large raccoon, staring at a couple of my girls that insisted on sitting out in the run. My dogs chased it off, and I put those smarty-pants'd little girls to bed, and secured the coop. If I didn't have such a well-built run, I would not have been able to sleep.
Our tractor has a hardware cloth skirting, or apron, and something burrowed under it, and stole eggs out from under my broody. I found the shallow groove where the critter entered. There are animals who will explore the limits of your preparations, and exploit any weaknesses.
Bury your fence if you are able. It's just that much more secure.

 

[My6Chicks]

I think both approaches work. You either force the intruder to dig deep (buried fencing) or dig far away (ground fencing). We placed our exterior run fencing on the ground. It is much less labor intensive and allowed us to use a 3 foot wide piece of hard cloth. The ends are stapled into the ground for additional security and is firmly attached to the run foundation. Weekly we look for signs of holes, and so far, we've spotted none.

 

[ebjeffers]

I have seen were others have just covered the bottom of the run with wire then sand/dirt, any good??
Quote:

 

[elmo]

Dora'smom :

Our tractor has a hardware cloth skirting, or apron, and something burrowed under it, and stole eggs out from under my broody.

Yes, that's definitely a risk when the apron isn't secured/staked to the ground, as with a tractor. But with my stationary pens, the grass has grown up through the apron, securing it to the ground in addition to the stakes I've used. Nothing is getting under that apron unless they dig down first, then over two feet. Since we have very heavy clay soil, I figure that's more than a single night's work for any critter we have around here.

Plus, my chickens are locked inside a secure coop at night, anyway. Belt and suspender approach!​

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Save yourself the back ache!! Create an apron/skirt around the bottom that lays flat on the ground and goes out about 18-24inches. I use 2x4 welded wire. It's cheaper than hardware cloth. I cover it all with a couple of inches of bark mulch and then plant shrubs or plants like daylilies on top of it that will root down through it.

I have never had anything get under my fence. Over it yes (Houdini the chicken) but nothing has gotten under it in over 3 years!