Digging in a fence skirt seems dumb!

[harveyhorses]

I've got hot wire around my run too, although it is is buried chain link, the company that installed it years and years ago did that, to keep the dogs from digging OUT! the hot wire has zapped two neighborhood dogs, countless other critters and a few stray children.

 

[Heathero617]

Quote:
Ohhh those stray kids are the WORST predator and/or pest out there!!!!!!! They slither their way into your home, eat everything you have in the fridge and cabinet, leave gigantic messes and sliter out leaving the carnage behind!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[harveyhorses]

Quote:
Ohhh those stray kids are the WORST predator and/or pest out there!!!!!!! They slither their way into your home, eat everything you have in the fridge and cabinet, leave gigantic messes and sliter out leaving the carnage behind!!!!!!!!!!!

HA! These were the more deliquent kind, I think they were going to 'set them free'. Now I am the scary crazy lady. I called their parents and said they were welcome to come see my chickens, but if they ever tried to do anything when I was not there, I would NOT be happy.

 

[bryan99705]

Quote:
Yes, it may look nicer. Problem is some predators (raccoons) are quite strong enough to move them deliberately, others strong enough to dig them out.

The nice thing about just a skirt is you can mow right over it

 

[I'm1chickencuddler]

Well...this is our first chickens, coop and yard project. We figured we were gonna be here a while and we didn't want to continually fool with anything. We did our homework, talked to people we know who have chicken, what works for them and their experience. We decided to dig a trench around the fence about 6-8 inches deep. We bent a length of fence at 90degrees and buried that so if anybody...ANYBODY...digs....they hit that and can't really get anywhere. They just keep digging fence. I would rather exert the effort knowing my girls are safe than come out to the coop to a horrible tragedy. We have worked on ours for over a year before we FINALLY got chickens. We are soooo excited and just wanted to do things right. I like what someone said about the grass growing through and then good luck pulling up the fence with a tractor. Where I live, I can't let my girls free range like I would if I had the property and could legally have them. I have them completely netted in and don't have to worry about anything getting to them. We have fox and coons and I didn't want to take any chances. Good luck!

 

[CarolynF]

I buried the skirt for a couple of reasons 1) it's a narrow walkway that gets used often and we don't want to keep tripping over it or getting snagged on the sharp edges 2) It's an all dirt area of our vegetable garden so there's no grass that's going to be growing up through it. You can see pictures of it on my BYC page.

It wasn't that hard to dig a couple inches down any way. On the other side of the wooden fence I can't put skirting so I buried fence wire about 4" under the surface of the run. Then I bent up the sides a few inches so I could wire it to the fence every few inches. We want to be able to sleep soundly even when we're away on a trip and feel this is our best shot.

I hope everyone that's reading this thread knows that the skirt needs to be either an extension of the fence or attached to the fence. If there's a gap between the bottom of the fence and the surface of the skirt (for instance if it's buried a few inches) predators can simply dig down those few inches and squeeze in between. I think most people already know this, but it might not be obvious to everyone, so thanks for letting me write it without getting slammed for stating the obvious.