do anyone put wire underground?

[ivan3]

I replied in part, in your previous thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=260782

The problem with minks is that, unless you can afford to cover the entire run with hardware cloth, and guard the open gate when your chooks are ranging, they can thwart most passive defenses (like water through a crevice), your best bet is to retire the mink ASAP.

Other members have had minks enter coop during day and rub out flock at night.

Poisoned bait in a tube or snap traps are two options.

Start a new thread on minks and/or use the search function and hunt down threads on minks.

Good luck, hope you get it!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
Can i borrow your dog??

My doberman is too stupid to something he isn't supposed to when you want him to do it

bahahaha

Rototiller, not rottweiler!

To the OP: If you are trying to prevent digging, I would prefer the use of a skirt. Which is where you lay 18" or more of wire, on the ground around the perimeter of the coop, stake it down and attach it to the vertical fence. This will make it easier to patrol, because if any damage is done to the skirt, it is easily identified and repaired. Whereas, if you bury the wire and something damages it, it is a little more tricky to repair.

If it is a mink you are trying to keep out, then a simple skirt or buried fencing is not going to even slow it down. If I remember correctly, a mink(or was it a weasel) can squeeze into any 2-3" opening. What are the chances that you can close every single 2-3" opening on your coop? Very slim. Best to deal directly with the mink, unless you can afford and have the time to seriously reinforce/rebuild your coop, using hardwire cloth EVERYWHERE.

 

[LynneP]

We bring our hens in at night and we did bury some 1/2" gauge hardware cloth, but like all things, it could be broached if we did not secure the girls. I always check the run before we let them out in the morning and out pop doors have hardware inside and out.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-LynnePs_Run

 

[silkiechick05]

Quote:
When you say you "bring your hens in at night" do you mean lock them in the coop, or do you have somewhere else you put them??



ALSO

Can a coon or possum reach through and grab a bird in a coop with 1/2" by 1/2" wire?

 

[wombat]

Quote:
When you say you "bring your hens in at night" do you mean lock them in the coop, or do you have somewhere else you put them??



ALSO

Can a coon or possum reach through and grab a bird in a coop with 1/2" by 1/2" wire?

They can reach through the 1"x2", but they can't reach through 1/2"x1/2".

 

[countrygirl57]

we don't have coons or possums. My husband Is like "Peter & The Wolf", he petrols the coup all day, since the visit from the mink with his gun.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

we don't have coons or possums.

If you live in the US, you have coons and possums.
The fact that you havent seen them doesnt mean they arent around​

 

[urban dreamer]

won't the wire rust if it is put underground?

 

[Evilkitty162]

Quote:
Nothing is ever foolproof because fool are so ingenues.

 

[countrygirl57]

nope no coons or possums. WE live in Canada-east coast on an island, Newfoundland

no snakes either.
Only had coyotes, for 5 yrs or so. They came across the strait of belle isle, on ice.