Double layer chicken wire?

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Hmmm, I've never thought of my barn as enviable! But I guess it does serve a purpose. I really need to rebuild it, but can't afford to yet. It was so bad when we bought the property that our previous homeowner's insurance company refused to insure the new house because the barn was on the property. We even offered to have the barn specifically excluded from the policy, but they refused. I have done numerous repairs on it since, but the roof still leaks, requiring me to put tarps in the hayloft, angled down to gutters I installed in the main hallway to control interior drainage. The corrugated metal roofing and siding has several small missing sections that have been blocked by plywood, or cardboard, or a tarp, or whatever was available at the moment and seemed to work so I never changed it. There are numerous small rusted out areas (good ventilation is left open when it's above 8 feet, or drafts are blocked when it's below 8 feet), there are gaps between the corrugated metal sheets on all four corners, the back door doesn't slide, and the front door fell off because the wood the slider was mounted on rotted away. But the concrete floor was very well made and is in excellent shape, and the frame is sturdy without sagging, so I'm not worried that it will fall down on me. It's unglamorous and jerry-rigged, but it has been made functional through frustration and imagination. Some day I will love it. For now I'm just happy to have it (at least on most days!), interior gutters and all.

 

[nikkers390]

LOL I had a house in IL that was over a hundred years old. People would OOH and AHH because it was impressive, but it was a real money pit. Every time I watch the movie Money Pit it is "deja vu"! I FEEL their pain.

 

[nchvac]

I felt pretty good about my plans before I read this post.

I have a hutch that I keep my chickens in. It is about 12 feet long and 3 feet wide not counting the nest and roosting compartments on the back which is about 2 feet wide.

I have bought 3 ducks and I am wanting to fence in beneath the hutch. From time to time I may have some chickens in there and if the ducks don't work out I may use the area for a meat pen for chickens. I have chicken wire available and chain link fence available. If I use the chain link fence on the outside of my 2 x 4 posts that hold up the hutch and then attach the chicken wire to the inside of the 2 x 4s (do note that the 2 x 4s are turned where the distance between the wires will only be 2 inches (actually 1.5 inches)), will that be good protection? Of course I will dig down and have some wire under the ground for that protection.

I don't know what type of problems rats present with ducks, but I think my ducks don't go broody so I will be raising them in the upper part of the hutch.

 

[birds4kids]

2 layers like that will certainly slow a raccoon or the like but something like a weasel or mink will walk right through

 

[nchvac]

2 layers like that will certainly slow a raccoon or the like but something like a weasel or mink will walk right through

2 layers like that will certainly slow a raccoon or the like but something like a weasel or mink will walk right through

We don't have weasils but I have seen a mink down the road one morning. Took a while to figure out what it was until I thought about the wraps woman used to wear. What will keep a mink out and how does he get through chicken wire?

 

[Folly's place]

Forget the chicken wire and use hardware cloth for better security. Mary

 

[birds4kids]

Weasels you wont know if you have till too late, they are more common than folks think even though you never see one. Far as a mink and chicken wire, the skull on many will be small enough they will fit through. Fluffy animals are a lot smaller under the fur than you think.

 

[nchvac]

Forget the chicken wire and use hardware cloth for better security. Mary

1/2" squares? What gauge do most use? I assume galvanized.

 

[Skyfeathers]

The sides and top of my run is made of 2" X 4" welded wire. I have 1/2 hardware cloth over the welded wire all around the bottom 3 feet on top of the welded wire. There is also an apron of welded wire 18" out from the base of the run

all the way around the perimeter on the outside. We have raccoons, skunks, possums, coyotes, foxes, and hawks, and none have been successful getting in. I see where they have dug in places but they always give up and leave. Hawks are my only real problem now, so I'm making a 665 sq ft run out of cattle panels and welded wire so my girls can be outside without getting carried away. They have 7 sq ft apiece in the covered run, but I want them out in the yard more. My next project is a chicken tractor

 

[nchvac]

I located some 1/2" x 1/2" 19 gauge Hardware Cloth or Wire Mesh. Will the 1/2" squares keep mice and rats out? How deep should it be buried into the ground?