Devastated! Warning Graphical

[Swbertrand1]

Photo 1 is her old coop
Photo 2 and 3 are the new coops she is building.

That makes sense. The old coop has little protection from what I can see in photo #1. Do you know if they had aerial protection on the run area? The photo doesn't show the top edges of the chicken wire sides...

 

[All4Eggz]

My livestock guardian "Kangal" always dispatched what ever came close to goats, chickens and ducks. He's 15 years old now and has trouble getting up. I know I'm about to loose him too. He's been our friend and protector for all these years.

Oh, that's even worse news. I'm so sorry.
I know how dogs can have an imprint on one's life.
It's good that you're prepared, though, because when a whole flock dies unexpectedly, that could be harder to handle than a natural death that you expect.

 

[jastech]

Correct, photos 2&3 are new coop. Yes the hog panels have 6x6 squares, but I put chicken wire over them and used hog rings to attach chicken wire to hog panels, made it real sturdy. About 400 clips used. I'm going to cut oil drill pipe in 8' lengths, then pound them 2' in the ground. Attach 48" 2x4" square no climb wire to post, then the top 2' will be barb wire and a electric wire. I have a electric fencer that I brought with me from Nebraska that'll do 30 miles, it should give a nice zap on 3 acres.

 

[jastech]

That makes sense. The old coop has little protection from what I can see in photo #1. Do you know if they had aerial protection on the run area? The photo doesn't show the top edges of the chicken wire sides...

No it didn't, mainly buzzerts flying out here, they seem to like all the Texas road hogs and rattlers.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Correct, photos 2&3 are new coop. Yes the hog panels have 6x6 squares, but I put chicken wire over them and used hog rings to attach chicken wire to hog panels, made it real sturdy. About 400 clips used. I'm going to cut oil drill pipe in 8' lengths, then pound them 2' in the ground. Attach 48" 2x4" square no climb wire to post, then the top 2' will be barb wire and a electric wire. I have a electric fencer that I brought with me from Nebraska that'll do 30 miles, it should give a nice zap on 3 acres.

If it were me building those coops/runs with the hog panels, I would take the chicken wire down and replace it with 1/2" to 1" square galvanized welded wire cloth. The hog panel squares are large enough that most raccoons, opossums, weasels, and other chicken predators can get through those squares, and the chicken wire is just an annoyance to them; they'll chew through that pretty easily.

Here's the type of product I'm talking about, and it can be found at Lowes, Home Depot, even on Amazon. We like the 1" x 1" squares as it's a bit easier to see through but still provides the security we need in our urban area:

1/2" here:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fencer-...-Gauge-Hardware-Cloth-CA19-3X50MF12/306743896

Couldn't find the 1" squares, but they're out there...

 

[Jory]

Chewy's sells hardware cloth as well.

 

[jastech]

If it were me building those coops/runs with the hog panels, I would take the chicken wire down and replace it with 1/2" to 1" square galvanized welded wire cloth. The hog panel squares are large enough that most raccoons, opossums, weasels, and other chicken predators can get through those squares, and the chicken wire is just an annoyance to them; they'll chew through that pretty easily.

Here's the type of product I'm talking about, and it can be found at Lowes, Home Depot, even on Amazon. We like the 1" x 1" squares as it's a bit easier to see through but still provides the security we need in our urban area:

1/2" here:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fencer-...-Gauge-Hardware-Cloth-CA19-3X50MF12/306743896

Couldn't find the 1" squares, but they're out there...

Yes mam, was going to do it that way at first, but it'll take over $200 just for that wire. I'm on a very tight budget, yet I need to protect the flocks and theft of birds and tools too.I have spent about $500 on it so far, that's buying scrap lumber too.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Yes mam, was going to do it that way at first, but it'll take over $200 just for that wire. I'm on a very tight budget, yet I need to protect the flocks and theft of birds and tools too.

It's a trade-off for sure. Do you happen to have a Lowe's store close to you? Much of the YardGard brand of 1/2" welded wire is on sale right now at 1/2 off through November 19. We're picking up some just to have it on hand for future projects because it's such a good deal right now.

I noticed in a quick search on Lowes.com that a 25ft roll of the 1/2" mesh that's 3' tall is on sale for $24 or so per roll. I don't know how much it would take to do your domed new coop/run, but that's a good price on a product that's normally over $46 per roll. Here's a link:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/YARDGARD-HARDWARE-CLOTH-3x25-1-2-in-19G/1002884222

 

[jastech]

It's 16' x 22' then another 12' of 3' wide wire for each end.

 

[jastech]

So it would take about 7¼ rolls of 50' wire?
That's about $350