- Jan 17, 2019
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Hello all,
We are purchasing 6 Indian Runner ducks in March. At first they will be inside in the bathtub but once they are bigger they will live in the coop. We have an enclosed garden area adjacent to our house. There is a wooden privacy fence along 2 sides, our house long one side, and the backside is 3' garden fencing with a little gate that separates the garden from the rest of the backyard. I hasve placed the posts for the run around 8-10" away from the existing fences (for room for wire placement, if needed).
We are in East Oregon, in a neighborhood in a small town. There are hawks, raccoons, and plenty of rodents. I want to have the coop secure from all. The run is less secure, made with 4' vinyl coated garden fencing, and we will purchase aviary netting to cover the top. When I am working in my vegetable garden (fenced in with run and coop) they will be able to forage there, and sometimes the backyard too.
We have an 8'x10' kid's playhouse that I am converting to a coop. It has sturdy studs, an asphalt shingle roof, and is off the ground slightly on top of railroad ties. It also is wired for electricity and has a light with a switch, so eventually I would like to run electricity out there. It needs to be repaired as some wood along the bottom front and floor is rotting. I have the materials to do so, but it has been snowing for the last week and I also threw my back out shoveling snow, so I am only able to plan at this point. I have the 1/2" hardware cloth and wood for the repairs. I plan to bury some hardware cloth to make a sort of apron along the bottom of the coop and prevent digging as well as sealing the coop up with it (IF necessary).
Additionally, I purchased a fence charger, polywire, insulators, and grounding wire. I am trying to design this as smartly as possible to conserve on hardware cloth as that was my priciest material. Right now I just have 1 roll of 24"x50'. If I bury an apron of it I will definitely need more.
Is it worth it to put polywire around the run itself, or is that a waste? I plan to feed fermented feed in the run area, hopefully that will minimize the mess as far as waste and food thrown around is concerned and reduce the interest for rodents. I thought that putting some polywire around the whole garden itself would be a good idea: mount the electric wire on the wooden privacy fence from the outside at various levels to deter intruders for the entire garden area. I would need permission to mount on one part of the fence as that would be in the neighbor's side yard. The one downside I can think of to doing a total perimeter wire is that there is a tree by one part of the wooden privacy fence that a determined raccoon might think about jumping in from (and then how would it get out?? ).
I am willing to use Tomcat bait boxes if I see rats or mice (the kind that reduces chance of 2ndary poisoning, my neighbor has cats). I also have a bucket with a rolling log to drown mice, and have caught one in my garden shed.
Does a low wire usually prevent digging or no? Any advisement on placement of electric wires? Is there concern for placement with snow, or does it melt the snow around it when it is on and pulsing? The winters here fluctuate but we will probably get snow at least annually.
Sorry for this brain dump. I have been mulling over the final design for a couple months now and I keep waffling from one thing to the next. Thanks in advance for any advice!
![20190213_095551[1].jpg](https://www.backyardchickens.com/data/attachments/1648/1648888-cfca765d066ca1823b547615e88cac5e.jpg "20190213_095551[1].jpg")
We are purchasing 6 Indian Runner ducks in March. At first they will be inside in the bathtub but once they are bigger they will live in the coop. We have an enclosed garden area adjacent to our house. There is a wooden privacy fence along 2 sides, our house long one side, and the backside is 3' garden fencing with a little gate that separates the garden from the rest of the backyard. I hasve placed the posts for the run around 8-10" away from the existing fences (for room for wire placement, if needed).
We are in East Oregon, in a neighborhood in a small town. There are hawks, raccoons, and plenty of rodents. I want to have the coop secure from all. The run is less secure, made with 4' vinyl coated garden fencing, and we will purchase aviary netting to cover the top. When I am working in my vegetable garden (fenced in with run and coop) they will be able to forage there, and sometimes the backyard too.
We have an 8'x10' kid's playhouse that I am converting to a coop. It has sturdy studs, an asphalt shingle roof, and is off the ground slightly on top of railroad ties. It also is wired for electricity and has a light with a switch, so eventually I would like to run electricity out there. It needs to be repaired as some wood along the bottom front and floor is rotting. I have the materials to do so, but it has been snowing for the last week and I also threw my back out shoveling snow, so I am only able to plan at this point. I have the 1/2" hardware cloth and wood for the repairs. I plan to bury some hardware cloth to make a sort of apron along the bottom of the coop and prevent digging as well as sealing the coop up with it (IF necessary).
Additionally, I purchased a fence charger, polywire, insulators, and grounding wire. I am trying to design this as smartly as possible to conserve on hardware cloth as that was my priciest material. Right now I just have 1 roll of 24"x50'. If I bury an apron of it I will definitely need more.
Is it worth it to put polywire around the run itself, or is that a waste? I plan to feed fermented feed in the run area, hopefully that will minimize the mess as far as waste and food thrown around is concerned and reduce the interest for rodents. I thought that putting some polywire around the whole garden itself would be a good idea: mount the electric wire on the wooden privacy fence from the outside at various levels to deter intruders for the entire garden area. I would need permission to mount on one part of the fence as that would be in the neighbor's side yard. The one downside I can think of to doing a total perimeter wire is that there is a tree by one part of the wooden privacy fence that a determined raccoon might think about jumping in from (and then how would it get out?? ).
I am willing to use Tomcat bait boxes if I see rats or mice (the kind that reduces chance of 2ndary poisoning, my neighbor has cats). I also have a bucket with a rolling log to drown mice, and have caught one in my garden shed.
Does a low wire usually prevent digging or no? Any advisement on placement of electric wires? Is there concern for placement with snow, or does it melt the snow around it when it is on and pulsing? The winters here fluctuate but we will probably get snow at least annually.
Sorry for this brain dump. I have been mulling over the final design for a couple months now and I keep waffling from one thing to the next. Thanks in advance for any advice!
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