Can't afford hardware cloth!! What do we do?

[dheltzel]

Have you watched some of the hoop coop videos on YouTube? I found some great ideas there. If you make a hoop coop with wire over all of it, and a tarp over that, you should be good.

As for materials, do you have a Tractor Supply in the area? They currently have 2x4 welded wire, 100ft roll 4 ft wide, for $60.
The only problem with the 2x4 welded wire is that coons can reach through it and they are smart about chasing the chickens against a side, where there companion starts removing body parts. The solution is to put 1inch chicken wire or 1/2inch HW cloth around the lower 2 ft. The 2x4 wire is fine for an apron around the outside also.

 

[FDaniels]

What scares us about the 2x4 wire is that we have stray cats that are always in our yard that we feed and I know they'd be able to fit through that size opening. I feel like we're stuck between a rock & a hard place lol

 

[dheltzel]

What scares us about the 2x4 wire is that we have stray cats that are always in our yard that we feed and I know they'd be able to fit through that size opening. I feel like we're stuck between a rock & a hard place lol

You have cats that can get through a 2x4 hole? Any that small seem more like food than a predator to a chicken!

If you mean they can reach through, of course, just like a coon. So put chikcen wire or HW cloth around the bottom 2 ft and the rest can be welded wire. Yes, cats and coons climb, but you only need to protect against startled chickens poking their head out or pushing against the wire and the coon/cat getting them through the wire. The chickens don't leap 2 feet up to stick their heads out, and if they did, the coon would have be at that spot at the right time.

And a tarp over it makes it even less likely they will reach them.

BTW, Amazon and Walmart.com both have 1/2 inch HW cloth for about 30 cents per square ft. The TSC special price on 2x4 wire makes it about 15 cents per sq ft.

 

[Tomtommom]

Don't worry about cats.. they coexist quite peacefully (although you should've seen the time my rooster chased my cat across the yard, HILARIOUS!). This cat lived in a field the first year of his life, catching whatever he could (got him from a rescue), he's still an avid hunter.. but he doesn't mess with the chickens. Chickens are quite fierce, believe it or not!

Also, you WILL lose chickens to predators. It's a given. It's going to happen. We can try to prevent it, but we can't take away the fact that chicken is just pretty darn delicious to any predator out there, INCLUDING humans. Seriously, there have been folks who had chickens stolen by people. It happens. It comes with the territory.

Some folks have a baby monitor in their coop, to pick up any night time ruckus in the coop.

 

[flyboy129]

Another vote for fixing the shed. Just a few pieces of old metal over the roof hole and some scrap plywood over the floor holes till you can do it all correctly. I only have $400 in my whole minibarn (10x12). Everything but the siding and floor joists was from scraps/give away. I used a 1x3 welded wire around my run, and no burying. I just placed heavy concrete blocks around the pen at the base (another free find).

Here's a door for the shed free: http://bham.craigslist.org/zip/4355244960.html

 

[FDaniels]

After reading everything I think we are going to try the shed & hopefully it works & we don't waste any money on it. And I hope they'll be ok without a run for a couple of weeks til we can clear the area & get it built.

How does this sound:
*7/16" OSB for the roof, back wall & floor (figure we'll need about 10 = roughly $80)
*make a new door w/ 2x4s (or would the 2x4s be too heavy?), hw cloth, hinges & latches--the hinges that are on the door now are actually in excellent condition so we're just going to reuse these & we do have a couple of 2x4s left over from the dog pen (wire & latches roughly $30 & going to sandwich wire on the door for added security)
*cut out windows & attach hw cloth (roughly $15 for wire & going to sandwich the wire for added security)
*add felt roofing to the roof (roughly $18)
*nest boxes ($FREE--using cleaned out tidy cat litter containers)
*feeders/waterers ($FREE--using a couple of 2 gallon buckets & attaching to pans)
*roost perches ($FREE--going to try and use some strong limbs from a fallen tree)
*sectioned off area for 2 chickens until they can integrate (wood, wire, bungee cords, braces to attach frame to walls & floor roughly $15--won't have to buy wire b/c we can use the chicken wire safely for this since this will be inside the building)
*nails $6
*wire to cover up the open area under the shed $FREE--going to use the chicken wire to create an apron & then lay fallen trees on it--the ones we can carry anyway but they'll still be incredibly heavy to predators

So far this comes to about $165 which still leaves about $80 in the budget for anything I think of once we start the project.

How does this all sound?

 

[aart]

Looks pretty good!

Doors can be 2x2's.

Roofing felt is not really water proof long term when exposed, it's meant to go under shingles.
Maybe look into shingles, or metal or plastic roofing panels.

I like to use deck screws, cause you can take things apart if needed, are easier to install accurately and are better for driving thru trim to attach HC.

 

[FDaniels]

One thing I just thought of after you mentioned about it being better to use panels for the roof is this: would it be ok to not get OSB for the roof & instead just attach roofing panels on the rafters? What's the easiest way to attach them?

 

[FDaniels]

Also, how big should the windows be? and do we need shutters for them? The windows are just going to be squares cut out of the wall w/ hwc attached in the inside & sandwiched to the wall w/ scrap wood. Oh and with the shed door we're going to build: it's going to have hwc attached on the inside of it & sandwiched like the windows and the latches are going to be locking hasp locks. Predators won't be able to twist them & open the door because they will always be locked so would that make them safe @ night? To have a door that a predator can stare @ them through even though he can't open the door? or should we cover part of the door w/ something?

 

[FDaniels]

Or what about OSB for the roof & then a tarp secured to the OSB until we're able to afford something more permanent?