Dog kennel run?

[AngelzFyre]

My runs are kennels as well and the only thing that I don't like about them is that the sides have to be reinforced with steel T Posts because our horses love to scratch their behinds on the chain link. I figured if they could bend them in as much as they did that a big dog or predator could as well so we did a T Post in the center of each panel and wired it in to stabilize. I also put railroad ties around the sides and crush and run to fill in gaps. Hoping to use cement around outsides of ties this summer. They are only in runs when we are home and supervising, otherwise they are in a self contained coop with small run area.
As others said I would also run chicken wire around the bottom or hardware cloth to prevent something snatching them through the wire or injuring them when they go to stick their heads out.
Bear Foot Farm's suggestion of laying the wire on the ground works great, we did that in our dog yard and nothing can dig in or out and we have 2 very dig happy labs that can attest to that

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[orchidchick]

I used the kennel panels too, figuring it would be easier to add on when the addiction got the best of me! which is like now.

I used the more expensive hardware cloth on the bottom three feet. You can actually drop it right down to the ground before you attach it with your hog wires or zip ties or whatever works best for you. But I used a 3 foot poly covered garden wire as a skirt; the kind that has graduated spacing (like to keep rabbits out) and put the smaller spaces closer to the chickens side layed down actually about six inches into the run and then attached, plus the weight of the run, and garden stapled outside.

We get a lot of rain here so didn't want to bury and have it rust, and the soil is sandy and soft and there have been a couple of times the girls have actually dug under that six inches by eight inches or more. It is easy to keep an eye on and easier to replace, and the chicken wire or hardware cloth would have been sharper on them.

I do have the upper part covered with chicken wire to keep out the squirrels and had to put kennel panels on the top to support the three different size PVC pipes under the tarp I use to make an A-frame so the rain rolls off and doesn't collapse the whole thing!
Now, I want a real run. This thing is fugly!!!

 

[greyhorsewoman]

We used dog kennel panels for our security fence inside our free range yard (still need to finish). We lined the bottom with concrete block pads to deter digging under.

Still need to finish the far end, put a top on and line with hardware cloth. We don't leave the chickens out in it overnight.