Duck Coup Fencing

[tweetysvoice]

Great question! We are in the process of building our run as well. It's going to be for both chickens and ducks (25'x25') and my DH and I have decided to use hog panel with hardware cloth on the bottom half of it. We'll be covering the top with chicken wire or something like that for the hawks, but I am more personally concerned with safety and durability versus aesthetics.

 

[Wynette]

tweety, my place is BY NO MEANS the Taj Mahal for our chickens, and won't be for our ducks, either. I am personally with YOU! Safety first, and that's the most important. Sounds like the hardware cloth attached (zip tied maybe?) to the bottom of the hog panels is a good idea. Would you bury the panels into the ground? Just curious.

 

[NCFF]

Working on the same type of project here on the west coast. No snow here, but rain and wind. I currently have chickens with Ducks and Geese(WH and Pilgrims ) on the way / ETA week of 4/16.
I plan on having a area that has sufficient space for bedding/nest, next stage out is a total secure w/ sand base (Top made of tin panels and Solid welded stock Dog kennel lined with 1/2" x 1/2" welded wire cloth w/ skirt. This area is for times that birds can not be let out in the yard ( nighttime lock up, bad weather, out of town, etc.)
I think a space like this would be good for you, because it would be easy to cover and keep clear of snow. My Day yard area so far has 5 ft high (2x4) welded wire w/ t posts spaced at 5ft intervals. I think my next step will be the 1/2" x 1/2" welded wire skirting along the perimeter. My current yard area is 25' x 30'. After that I was toying with the idea of putting hog panels on the perimeter, that might be overkill , but it would sturdy up the exterior fence line.

I have coyotes, hawks, skunks, raccoons. I think the skunks and raccoons are not a problem. But I am not sure if i will have loses to the coyotes and hawks. Maybe you should look into getting a LGD. I look on Craig's list, but am holding back because I rent.

 

[OldGuy43]

Guess I do have something to offer. Tent stakes do a great job of holding the bottom of the fence to the ground and are easy to install. Can be cheap, too.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Do not use chicken wire, just Iike with chickens it won't stop a predator.

Do not leave any gaps between boards and wire, coons and fox will both climb and get it to help themsleves to dinner.

Field fencing and cattle panels need backed up with hardware cloth. Invest in C clamps or hog wire toe and the applicator for them. They are small open O or C shaped wire to attach the hardware cloth to the wire of the panel or fencing.

Zip ties we at out, beco,e brittle and need replacing.

Chickens may scratch a yard to death, but ducks have nice flat feet they stomp grass to nothing with. Plan accordingly for the sure to follow mud yard they will create.

Make sure there are no gaps at the bottom. If fingers can fit, so can a raccoon hand, or other predators.

Familiar with the small child's choking tool example? The if it fits in here a child can choke? Well if it fits inside a toilet paper roll so can a raccoons hands.

 

[Wynette]

NCFF, I haven't done the "skirting" yet, but it seems like this option would be easier than burying, which can be very time consuming and quite a bit of labor. Do you cut the grass horizontally, like sod, and then flip it back, and add the skirting, then flip the "sod" piece back over? If so, hve you found that it works well, and does the grass grow again once you put it back over the skirt?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Wynette, yes of you skirt wire and place grass back on it and water well it will reboot through the wire. If you pick up some of the landscape cloth U pins and push them into the sod strip and through the wire it holds everything down snugly.

 

[Wynette]

Wynette, yes of you skirt wire and place grass back on it and water well it will reboot through the wire. If you pick up some of the landscape cloth U pins and push them into the sod strip and through the wire it holds everything down snugly.

I may try that for my next runs. How far out do you recommend the skirt should run?

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've got 2 different levels of security for mine.

They are in an orchard during the day with 7 ft tall game fence that has a wire skirt of 1 inch poultry net 3 feet up and 2 feet on the ground. Coyotes and dogs are my biggest day time danger and that fence stops them. So far, no problems. If the raccoons (who climb) decide they want in, I will add electric fencing to the top.

If the eagles decide they want duck, then everybody will have to move full time into the night run until end of summer. At the end of summer they can have access to the berry patch which is fully covered to keep the tweeties from stealing eh fruit.

Their night run is made of welded steel dog kennel panels, topped with horse panels (hog panels with 2 X 4 squares.) There is wire underneath plus wire skirting. Nothing is digging in, no matter how determined.

If you look around, you can find "kennel wire". It is sturdy non-climb wire with 2x2 squares. Nothing smaller than a bear or an adult bull is getting through it. It will stop anything but a weasel. Then you will need something down at hen height to keep the raccoons from reaching through the wire and catching a bird that is sleeping up against the wire.

The cover over the top of the berry patch is bird net supported with a framework of metal electrical conduit. It's cheap, light, and has all sorts of different fasteners for it. Bird net will stop hawks and owls, nothing else.

 

[tweetysvoice]

tweety, my place is BY NO MEANS the Taj Mahal for our chickens, and won't be for our ducks, either. I am personally with YOU! Safety first, and that's the most important. Sounds like the hardware cloth attached (zip tied maybe?) to the bottom of the hog panels is a good idea. Would you bury the panels into the ground? Just curious.

I don't think we are planning on burying the hog panel, but we will be buying the hardware cloth in an L shaped pattern so it's a foot out from the run. This will save on burying it so deep. We found a roll of 15g wire at a garage sale that we'll use to attach the hardware cloth to the hog panel. I was shocked at how cheap the hog panel was ($16 bucks for a 16ft piece) and how expensive the hardware cloth was - but this is a lifetime investment if we set it up right the first time. (We will have to rent a UHaul to transport the hog panel home though.. LOL)