Do I Need to bury the fence 18"?

[farmdude]

Quote:
It worked for me! I had a fox trying to dig under the chicken pen. I laid chicken wire 3' out. It stopped the foxes digging and the grass grew trhrough it. I recommend this also.

 

[vivan88]

Thanks for sharing.It'S really a good post.Good luck to you

 

[CarolynF]

Quote:
Chicken wire really will not keep most predators out. It's only good for keeping chickens IN. Heavy duty hardware cloth is the way to go.

I have read this time and again on this forum. While I agree that chicken wire fencing will not keep a determined predator out, Does anyone have hard evidence that it will not deter digging under a fence if spread as an apron?

If a dog or raccoon can tear apart a chicken wire fence, why wouldn't they be able to do the same if it's on the ground? I know our dog was easily capable of it.
And there are numerous recountings by BYC members of their chickens being killed because the fence was only chicken wire.

 

[CarolynF]

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I chose to bury the wire skirt (mine is 2x4 welded wire) for a couple of reasons. It's a busy walkway without grass so having wire laying there is a hazard. Another reason is so animals can't easily lift the edge of the wire and dig underneath. It's not a trench, just about 2"-3" below the surface so it was not much digging.

 

[Grandpawise]

I had about 2000 bricks that I wasn't sure what I was going to use them for. They were perfect to lay over the top of the hardware wire. My grandson cut the wire to make a 2 foot wide area around the coop. There are times all four of the grandkids are sitting on the bricks watching the chickens. They actually belong to the 10 year old that begs to throw down hay in the coop and then go in and sit there holding them and petting them.

 

[afveteran88]

I'm putting up my run this weekend and love the info given here. I didn't look forward to digging trench. lol

 

[CarolynF]

Quote:
I see you're new...

I'd love to see the gang watching the gang. Lucky Grandpa!

 

[dawj]

I ran my hardware cloth about 24 inches all the way around run and then planted peas hoping they will climb harware cloth (chickens will prb. stop that from happening lol