Chicken wire isn't good for brooders for another reason, besides predators - young chicks can slip right through the holes in chicken wire, wander off and get lost/eaten/cold and die. That was my mistake. It was in the coop so they were safe, but I used chicken wire to section the broody and her chicks off from the flock and one chick squeezed through the chicken wire holes, got separated and almost froze to death on a 40-degree night away from mom. I just happened to be in the back yard for something else and heard it chirping, and saved it, but it would've died otherwise, as it couldn't figure out how to get back through.
Losing chickens to dogs is especially infuriating. With wild animals, okay, it's nature or they're hungry or whatever, plus we're on their land anyway. It's frustrating, but understandable. With dogs however, there is no excuse. Dogs are owned by people, and people need to be responsible and keep their dogs (their property) off of other people's property. I wouldn't shoot a wild animal on my property, because I respect nature and understand that I'm just tempting it with my prey birds, but I would have no issue whatsoever shooting loose dogs that run into my yard. Especially repeat offenders where it's not a matter of somebody's beloved pet escaping this one time, but people who habitually and knowingly let their dogs roam other people's yards.
