Covering outdoor run

[sport14692]

That is a great idea, Going to do that to mine when i build it

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
i love your panels!!! nice looking sturdy run that you have!!

 

[Taylorhens]

Well, I can't recommend this fully as I haven't tried it myself, but I did see a lady who did this: took spools of fishing line and just zigged zagged it back and forth spider web style all across the top of the chicken run. She said it worked great to keep hawks out (won't work for other predators though).

Like I said, I haven't tried it. But talk about quick and cheap...

 

[VI KING RANCH]

If you don't want to throw sum big bucks into a cover and want a cover quick use yarn over the top. The hawks will see this and know that they will get tangled in it so they won't fly into it. I learned this trick from a local 92 year old farmer who has never lost a chicken since.

The other solution is a shotgun...

 

[loubapache]

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Nice run.

I wonder what the very short blocks on the rafter are for? I do not mean the blocking between the rafters.

Thanks,

 

[teach1rusl]

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Chicken wire is designed to keep chickens IN - not to keep predators out. If you hang out on BYC long enough, you'll begin to see lots of posts of raccoons, dogs, foxes, etc. tearing through (generally in a corner section) chicken wire and flocks being obliterated. A lady down the road from me went through this last year. She had a gorgeous rooster and pretty flock of hens that I always admired when driving by. Then one day I see a "Free" sign with rolls of wire and frame parts out front. I stopped and asked if she'd gotten a new coop, and she went on to tell me how she'd lost the entire flock to a raccoon who'd ripped through the wire a few nights earlier. The worse part was, she could hear the attack and so went out, but it was dark, and she was an older lady, so she could do nothing about it. It was so sad...

 

[SewingMom]

Yarn or fishing line - great idea!! Too bad I didn't see this before I spent a couple hours putting weed fabric over the top lol
I think I'll switch to yarn though the weed fabric is blowing all over and I'm not sure it will withstand a thunderstorm - does the yarn or line need to be brightly colored or will the hawks see it regardless?
Also - any guess as to how closely strung the yarn needs to be?

 

[Schwartzfarmnc]

Quote:
Nice run.

I wonder what the very short blocks on the rafter are for? I do not mean the blocking between the rafters.

Thanks,

We ended up needing the extra support to add a few screws in, the wind is horrible on top of the mountain at times, so we ended up adding a lot of extra screws so the panels would not flap up and down when the wind got really bad.

 

[romadfox]

I covered my run with poultry netting due to hawks and other climbing critters. You can check it out on my BYC page.

 

[Kudzu]

All you got to do is stand back and look, if you were a chicken killing machine how would you enter. You got to stop them before they try, then you have to keep upgrading when necessary. Or, keep on keeping on and wake up one day with a bunch of dead chickens, it's your choice.