chain link?

[mathewmarie]

I picked up a piece 70' x 4' for a song and got the long top poles to go with it. Also have a kennel coming soon. I plan to use zip ties to make a "chain link blanket" (maybe) and run the poles from my coop to the kennel. I'll finish the lower perimeter with a mesh about 1 inch with a foot or so flaired out on the ground and rocks piled on the flaired fence.

Does this sound OK? The chain link looks no more than 2 inch square and that is if I stretch it well. What kind of predator goes thru chain link?

 

[Sjisty]

Snakes can go through chain link. Raccoons' hands can reach in and pull anything through, feet, legs, heads, etc. Weasels maybe, I've heard they can get through tiny holes. Luckily we haven't had that problem. Mice and rats can get through.

 

[Going Quackers]

As said by PP those types can get through, usually you wire with smaller wire the bottom 1-2ft that said depends on your set-up i have a few dog runs and one pen made with chain link here for the banty silkies... i lock all birds up at night though so my risks are only what is here for daytime and i free range the rest of my birds.

 

[mathewmarie]

Mice and rats... won't the chickens kill and eat them? Are they just pesky?

I do plan to make the coop raccoon proof. Just hope the chickens know to return to it before dusk

 

[Going Quackers]

Mice and rats... won't the chickens kill and eat them? Are they just pesky?

I do plan to make the coop raccoon proof. Just hope the chickens know to return to it before dusk

Mice yes, rats debatable. They can wreak havoc with your eggs and deplete your feed, plus the health concerns with having vermin about that said if your in the country they are about i have a large duck flock that often catches mice and their are some breed of chickens quite known for it(buckeye come to mind!)

I always, always head count my chickens some nights one lags behind... some nights they are night crawling and get 'caught up' in the hunt, i cannot emphasize enough to ensure all members of the flock are accounted for, 99% of the time mine are in but i like to be sure.

 

[Sjisty]

At night mice and rats can chew on chicken toes and kill chicks. Chickens are helpless in the dark.

 

[seann]

Yea, I'd use hardware cloth 1/2" only.

 

[mathewmarie]

I am very thrifty. Of course, there's nothing economical about getting your chickens killed. That stuff is expensive!

 

[ChickCrazed]

Mice and rats... won't the chickens kill and eat them? Are they just pesky?

I do plan to make the coop raccoon proof. Just hope the chickens know to return to it before dusk

Mink and weasels also kill chickens and are much more common than you would think (I'm not sure where you live). They can fit through a hole a mouse or rat can. Chain link won't stop them so securing your coop at night will be important. I wish I had used hardware cloth - it would have saved me a lot of time and it would be cheaper than the two automatic doors I now want.