Do I need to dig down for the run?

[FaithM]

So we are in the process of building the run for our chickens, who are quickly getting too old.. (8 weeks now) and I am wondering if we need to dig 1 ft. down inside of the run? We have our poles dug into the ground and set with cement, but we don't really know if it's necessary to dig the whole area of the run. Can we just put hardware cloth on the floor of the run (on top of the grass) and cover that with gravel and sand, or is there a reason that we would not do that? Does this make any sense?

Thanks!

 

[tcstoehr]

I just went through this process. I have a 16'x18' run built with 5' tall 2"x4" welded wire supported by T-posts. I used this same wire over the top of the whole thing. That was alot of work! Then I bought 75' of 2' tall 1"x2" welded wire with the intent to bury it 1 foot deep and attach the remaining 12" above ground to the existing welded wire. As it turned out, I likely only managed 8-10 inches completely buried. Other than that it worked out well. When the dirt is packed down and the wire secured, it is very solid and I really doubt a raccoon is going to dig down ten inches and then more to get under it. If you can bury some wire 12" down, I would recommend it. But then, I'm a noob to all this.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Is your goal to prevent predators from digging under the fencing of the run? A lot of us here recommend using a wire "apron" around the run for this purpose. A piece of wire ~24" wide connected perpendicularly to the outside bottom of the fence will prevent most things from digging in. You can either bury the wire, or if you have grass, just lay it on top and let the grass grow through it. I had to bury mine since I live in the desert and have no grass. It's prevented coyotes from digging in a number of times. They try digging near the wall, reach the wire apron and are thwarted. You can see more details on how I did this on "My Coop" page (link just under my avatar).

 

[FaithM]

Thanks for both of your answers! We were planning on burying an apron of wire around the edge.

 

[RonP]

I have the same setup as Gallo del Cielo.
I placed landscape 4x4s on the outside perimeter of the buried fencing, filled with mulch and potted plants.
Looks great. Easy to detect predatory attempts.