covering my run

[mikeharold]

I'm going to be building the run next weekend and will be using 2x4-60" tall no climb wire that I will have left over from a fence job I'm doing for the sides. The run is in the corner of the yard under a tree, but we have neighborhood cats and hwks during the day. At night we do get possums on occasion, but that's pretty much it. Never seen racoons around here and it's too urban for foxes, and cayotes. They will be locked in the coop at night so really the run cover will be to keep cats and aerial predtors out during the day.

So, what should I use for the roof? I know everyone pretty much hates chicken wire, but will it be fine for our daytime threats? Again, not so worried about nightime as they will be locked up. I was originally thinking of maybe just bird netting as it would dissapear more and look a little nicer, but think that would be too light. Lets hear your thought.

Thanks

Oh, and an earlier shot of the area.

 

[Alaskan]

The problem with light weight net is it might break too easily. I had a hawk dive right through my plastic (or nylon, or whatever it was) fishing net. My thick cotton fishing net is strong enough that a hawk would NOT be able to dive through. A possum might be able to chew a hole through if it could sit in a tree where you wouldn't see it.

So I guess I am saying, if the net you are using for the top
1. Is strong enough so it won't break if a hawk dives against it
And
2. There are no areas where a predator could sit and hide and chew a hole in it
and
3. It is only for day time protection

Then a net would be fine, just don't forget to test how strong it is.

Also, any kind of wire on top would work well too, and you would probably be happier with wire in the long run. The problem with wire is that the cost in the beginning will be more, not only for the wire vs. net but also wire will need lots more support.

You do live in a warm raccoon friendly environment though, so you should read up on how horridly strong and clever they are, and make sure that the coop is a bit like Fort Knox. I don't think that the raccoons are so bad during the day, so I don't think you have to be as careful about the run, but I would make sure it is perfectly dog proof. In general though, chicken wire isn't strong enough to keep out dogs.

I don't think that cats are a problem with fully grown chickens, just with chicks.

 

[chfite]

As an aside, you probably have coyotes. Just because you live in an urban area doesn't mean that you don't have coyotes. It means that you haven't seen them. I live in a densely populated, built up area. I have seen coyotes out in the late night hours.

I ran colorful nylon cord over my run. It reaches from one end to the other, spaced about six inches apart. We have hawks here all the time. The thought is that the hawk won't try to got through a visible barrier that might trap it in either entering or leaving.

So you could be OK with chicken wire as a cover. It is just hard to work with.

I don't have anything that the opossum could climb to enter the run, so I don't have that problem. We have opossums, but they aren't that smart. They generally come for the figs in the summer.

Chris

 

[Dooner]

After two years I lost my first hen. Only a neat pile of feathers. I am thinking of adding a run for daytime foraging of just the light netting for sides and top. Better than nothing.