Convince dad to put hardwire cloth on the chicken’s run instead if chicken wire.

[Bear and Dart]

No, it didn’t come with chain link unfortunately, here’s a pictureView attachment 2295525

We haven’t attached it yet, we’re putting a mental thing In between to get from coop to run.

 

[NatJ]

No, it didn’t come with chain link unfortunately, here’s a picture

Ah, that makes sense.

Do you lock the chickens in the coop at night?
More predator attacks happen at night than by day. So locking them in the coop will probably prevent more than 3/4 of possible predator issues.

The chickens really might be OK.

Is there usually someone home during the day? They might hear noise and go out to check. Then they could scare away the predator and look at the damage. And actual damage to the run might change how the conversation goes in future

The chickens might be OK that way too.

I do not think hardware cloth is the best choice for that run. I would recommend welded wire fencing, layered either over or under the chicken wire. (Welded wire fencing often has 2" by 4" holes, which would be fine.)

Anything really small (like a weasel) would be able to find some spot to slip under the edge along the ground, so it doesn't matter if they can also go through the holes of the chicken wire.

A big or strong animal (raccoon, dog, bear) can certainly break the chicken wire, but could also break hardware cloth. Such an animal would not break through welded wire fencing, unless it was a bear. And even a bear just might decide to look for easier food elsewhere.

Or try an electric fence, as others have suggested. That also prevents animals from tearing at the chicken wire.

 

[Bear and Dart]

Ah, that makes sense.

Do you lock the chickens in the coop at night?
More predator attacks happen at night than by day. So locking them in the coop will probably prevent more than 3/4 of possible predator issues.

The chickens really might be OK.

Is there usually someone home during the day? They might hear noise and go out to check. Then they could scare away the predator and look at the damage. And actual damage to the run might change how the conversation goes in future

The chickens might be OK that way too.

I do not think hardware cloth is the best choice for that run. I would recommend welded wire fencing, layered either over or under the chicken wire. (Welded wire fencing often has 2" by 4" holes, which would be fine.)

Anything really small (like a weasel) would be able to find some spot to slip under the edge along the ground, so it doesn't matter if they can also go through the holes of the chicken wire.

A big or strong animal (raccoon, dog, bear) can certainly break the chicken wire, but could also break hardware cloth. Such an animal would not break through welded wire fencing, unless it was a bear. And even a bear just might decide to look for easier food elsewhere.

Or try an electric fence, as others have suggested. That also prevents animals from tearing at the chicken wire.

Thank you, I’ll look into all of these ideas and decide what is best. I might do electric just because 2 weeks after the bear got ours it got someone else’s aswell.

 

[Bear and Dart]

Thank you, I’ll look into all of these ideas and decide what is best. I might do electric just because 2 weeks after the bear got ours it got someone else’s aswell.

I’d also do something other than electric too, we’ll see what happens, I’ll let you know what we decide to go with if your curious.

 

[NatJ]

I’ll let you know what we decide to go with if your curious.

Yes, I will definitely be curious what you decide to go with, and how well it works.

 

[wyoDreamer]

WE used 6' tall, 2"x4" welded wire fencing for our run, and wrapped the bottom portion of it with chicken wire buried 6" into the ground. We used 1/2" machine fabric on the coop windows and venting holes. The welded wire fencing was strong enough to keep out the neighbors 3 labs (2 were 8 month old puppies) when they came to "visit".

 

[Trisseh]

Welded wire fencing would be appropriate and probably more cost effective than HC for a run such as yours. and from what I hear, easier to work with as well.

Electric fencing works extremely well as a secondary barrier so long as you set it up properly and check it often to make sure it’s still working like it should and there aren’t any branches, etc causing problems. I have electric wire around my pens and have never had anything breach them. I’ve had many an animal get curious and check it out and not return. you definitely need to know what types of animals you’re deterring to ensure you have the appropriate wire height, fence energizer, and grounding.

the fence energizer (the thing that gives it power) is important - when you mention animals dying from fencing, it was likely a continuous charge from a fencer that puts out voltage constantly. What you want for a deterrent fence is an intermittent charge, so it send out a pulse every few seconds. If something gets tangled, it does not receive a continuous charge. do a lot of research, reach out to companies near you that specialize in electric fencing, and go from there. they’ll have a better idea of what you specifically need in the environment you’ll be working with.

 

[Bear and Dart]

WE used 6' tall, 2"x4" welded wire fencing for our run, and wrapped the bottom portion of it with chicken wire buried 6" into the ground. We used 1/2" machine fabric on the coop windows and venting holes. The welded wire fencing was strong enough to keep out the neighbors 3 labs (2 were 8 month old puppies) when they came to "visit".

Thank you, we have Neibors with an off leash dog so that’s good to know, and if ours got out.

 

[Bear and Dart]

Welded wire fencing would be appropriate and probably more cost effective than HC for a run such as yours. and from what I hear, easier to work with as well.

Electric fencing works extremely well as a secondary barrier so long as you set it up properly and check it often to make sure it’s still working like it should and there aren’t any branches, etc causing problems. I have electric wire around my pens and have never had anything breach them. I’ve had many an animal get curious and check it out and not return. you definitely need to know what types of animals you’re deterring to ensure you have the appropriate wire height, fence energizer, and grounding.

the fence energizer (the thing that gives it power) is important - when you mention animals dying from fencing, it was likely a continuous charge from a fencer that puts out voltage constantly. What you want for a deterrent fence is an intermittent charge, so it send out a pulse every few seconds. If something gets tangled, it does not receive a continuous charge. do a lot of research, reach out to companies near you that specialize in electric fencing, and go from there. they’ll have a better idea of what you specifically need in the environment you’ll be working with.

Thank you, I’ll definitely look into electric wire, it sounds like it works well and I just want my chickies to be safe.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you, we have Neibors with an off leash dog so that’s good to know, and if ours got out.

For dogs, welded wire is a MUCH better choice than hardware cloth.