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

[Powerhour]

I don’t know if anyone can really help me with this. But do you know anyway to convince my dad not to put chicken wire on the run. He said that over the years nothing has ever gotten in our old run during the day so it’ll be fine, but I am worried I’ll come out one day and find a crime scene.

I kept rabbits years ago inside a chicken wire hutch. Came out one morning to the massacre your worried about and yes the wire was attached very well. I’m guessing the culprit was either a fisher cat or raccoons. My chickens now reside in a very solid coop with a run totally enclosed in 1/2 hardware cloth and the bottom four sides are buried 18 inches deep. Six years now and nothing has gotten inside. Worth the peace of mind.

 

[MaryAlisa]

Hi, jumping in to ask if anyone has advice about the chicken run my husband and I are building for our three hens. We have a small suburban backyard so it is right underneath our back porch. We used 1/2“ hardware cloth for the bottom perimeter (buried six inches down) and it goes two feet high. Then we have chicken wire coming down from the underside of the porch and woven to the hardware cloth with wire. I'm hoping this is good enough. My bedroom window is right next to the coop and I can hear if any animals are out there in the night. I scared off some raccoons a few weeks ago

 

[MGChickenRanch]

I don’t know if anyone can really help me with this. But do you know anyway to convince my dad not to put chicken wire on the run. He said that over the years nothing has ever gotten in our old run during the day so it’ll be fine, but I am worried I’ll come out one day and find a crime scene.

Chicken wire is only good for keeping chickens in. It is almost useless for keeping predators out. I use hardware cloth bottom sides and top, leave no gaps anywhere

 

[wyoDreamer]

@MaryAlisa
You say the chicken run is under the porch and 1/2 hardware clothe and 1/2 chicken wire.
But what about your chicken coop. Where do they roost at night?

If the "Run" is also their coop, then it does not sound like a secure place. If you have already had to scare of a raccoon, they will be back. If you are sound asleep and the chickens are asleep on the roost too, you may not get any warning until the raccoon is already in the area and grabbing chickens.