Burying chicken wire around run?

[renardsubtil]

Why not just lay a layer of chicken wire down and then plunk the run on top of it?

Is it because you are planning on having the chicken coop run bedded with just the dirt from your garden or something? I was going to do with dirt and hay myself but I did a lot of reading and I've decided to use a few inches of sand so to me, having covering the ground in my run with at least one layer of chicken wire is good enough to keep something from digging under my run's fence.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have to realize that just because something can possibly happen does not mean it will each and every time. Also because it hasn’t happened yet does not mean it will never happen.

One forum member kept his show quality birds in chicken wire breeding pens for years without any problems at all. Then one day, during the daytime, three big dogs came by and destroyed his breeding flock.

Another regular poster showed photos of what dogs did to her chicken wire run overnight. Chicken wire is made by twisting the wire together, not welding. In some places that wire had been pulled so hard it had untwisted. In other places the wire had broken. Again, her chicken wire run had been there for years without any problems.

Chicken wire is a deterrent. It will stop some things and maybe cause others to pause. Hardware cloth and other welded wire is a deterrent. It will stop some things and cause some others to hesitate. What they stop and what they deter depends on how heavy gauge it is and how determined the predator is. Bears are real rough. They may require an electric wire.

Some predators will dig to get into a run or maybe even a coop. The idea of the apron is that the predator goes up to the fence, starts digging, hits the wire, and does not know to back up. That’s a lot easier than burying the wire and in my opinion just as or maybe even more effective.

There is another advantage to burying wire or the apron. It’s already been mentioned. If there is any gap at all between the bottom of your run and the ground, the predator may not even have to dig. It’s amazing how small a hole they really need to just push their way through.

 

[balynce]

Your coop is so awesome! I really like the design. Did you use any specific plans? I am about to take on building a coop for my 7 almost month-old girls (and possibly getting more chicks next year) (note: i tried to reply this post to cosbackyard but it didn't work right...)

 

[cosbackyard]

Your coop is so awesome! I really like the design. Did you use any specific plans? I am about to take on building a coop for my 7 almost month-old girls (and possibly getting more chicks next year) (note: i tried to reply this post to cosbackyard but it didn't work right...)

Sent you a PM, and thanks

 

[azygous]

Cos, besides an abundance of bears, I've been visited by bobcats, foxes, skunks, and every bit as bad, hawks. Once any predator gets a bead on the chickens, they keep coming back again and again until I manage to get a direct hit at them with the shotgun. Surprisingly, that rubber shot is very effective in convincing a bear or bobcat that the chickens aren't worth it.

Folks seem to focus on the fencing and preventing critters from digging under, but it's every bit as important to address the top of the run. Hawks and owls, of course, can dive into the pen and nab a chicken. But bears, bobcats, even some dogs, can climb over a fence.

It's an added expense and work, but a covered run is a terrific thing, not just keeping the chickens safer, but you don't have to deal with mud and odor when it rains. And it's one thing I don't have to shovel when it snows.

 

[jruhle]

It's pretty hard to stop a determined bear from getting into anything. If it wants in, it will tear a wall down, break windows, rip through wire. I had a bear break into one of my "fortified pens" and eat everything in it, bones, feathers, feed, left nothing. It got stuck in the pen and couldn't get out for a while. I was out of town fishing, my chicken sitters mom died so she never checked on them not once. Left poop and claw marks everywhere. It finally just barrelled through the wire, but it was in there for a while. The run was covered so it couldn't climb out and there was claw marks all up and down the tree's. Never came back, figuire someone shot it.

 

[azygous]

What a grizzly, pardon the pun, story! That must have been a horror to come home to.

I'm well aware of what bears are capable of. Twenty years ago, when I first moved here, one got into my house, and the destruction was pretty much complete.

Since I've had the chickens, I've found myself between them and a determined bear on several occasions. That's why my pen and coops are wrapped around with electric hot wire. And cans of bear spray are strategically located inside the pen and outside the pen so I don't get trapped in the pen by a bear, like two summers ago. And three summers ago, a bear was so determined to get the chickens, it completely ignored my presence, even though I was screaming at it. Finally, I went up to it and dropped a ten-pound rock on its back. Thus the bear spray now hanging conveniently on a tree outside the pen.

As long as we're on the subject of protecting a chicken pen with hot wire, I highly recommend it as an excellent deterrent against any persistent predator, including dogs, raccoons, and the like. A wire about ten inches from the ground takes care of small critters, and a second strand about thigh high will guard against the larger ones. The secret is a dab of peanut butter at intervals on the hot wire as an "invitation to get the message". My system is powered by a solar charger so power failures are not a worry.

I know most urban chicken wranglers don't have to deal with such a wide variety of predators, but dogs have a way of sowing tragedy even in the city, and you'd be surprised how many small predators exist near the outskirts of most cities and towns.