Dog proofing my chicken pen

[4H-Mom]

I am getting ready to build a permanant chicken coop/run. Neighbors have dogs that enjoy our chickens & not in a good way. Once I get my 5 ft fence up I need ideas how to keep the dogs from digging under. I was thinking about putting wire on the ground so they cant dig under. Not sure about the gate though. They have tore up a dog pen once. Hope to be able to run electric wire along the outside at least for a while. But not sure this is gonna be possible. Any ideas would be greatly appriciated. Thank you.

 

[gardendufus]

Yes laying sturdy wire on the ground (anchored probably) is a good deterrent. I have a friend that laid just scrap pieces of chain link fence that he picked up here and there.

"Don't know about the gate tho" you mean your gate is not sturdy enough to keep them from breaking through? Maybe you could post pics of your gate setup. I'm sure not a construction expert, but I bet people will want pics in order to suggest improvements.

 

[Queen Bee]

I suggest you use chain link fencing and bury it by digging a trench, two feet down and two feet out, and place the wire in it.. I would cover the entire run, including the top with chain link fencing!. BUT I Have seen dogs chew thru chain link fencing to get out so a determined pack of dogs can get in almost anything.. Electric would be a great back up or first defense! I poured a six inch deep by 24"sq. slab of cement under my run gate.. To prevent anything digging under and used 2x6 treated lumber as the frame for my gate, I placed clf and hardware cloth over the windows and gate was totally covered with both. I placed 1/2" hardware cloth 3ft from the ground up to prevent anything from reaching in.. In the four yrs before we moved NOTHING got in...and the new owner has not had any problem.. He has hunting dogs that get loose all the time, there are stray dogs that roam thru there, raccoons, fox , possums and coyotes. And I didn't have electric fencing.. A note: remember to have your gates open to the outside--this prevents animals from pushing the gate in and sliding or squeezing in...

 

[debid]

I have rocky soil (and by that I mean giant boulders with a little dirt between them) so I couldn't dig down to bury the fencing. So, I dug a few inches where I could, put the dirt back on top of the fencing there, added some fill dirt in other places, and used relocated boulders right on top of the fencing where I couldn't dig at all. As a result, the fencing is only a couple inches deep at the most but it still does the trick. I used 4' chain link that I snipped in half with bolt cutters so it's 2' wide and fastened to the bottom of their run with galvanized wire.

For determined dogs, I'd absolutely get a few hot wires going. Dogs are smart -- give them a good shock to the nose each time they make an attempt and they'll stop trying.