Experiences with predators going through wood walls.

[centrarchid]

Recently, as in the last 10 years or so I have had predators chew through chicken wire and even the heavier gauge of hardware cloth. There are multiple types of both. Many years prior I have had raccoons chew and rip through 1 x pine that had some age on it. Dogs may prove to be your bigger problem when it comes to testing structure and they will sometimes damage their teeth to get through.

Big challenge I see for OP is ventilation. We are often so concerned about controlling one problem like predators that we compromise air flow and our ability to combat disease and parasites. It is like a game of wackamolly.

OP, with your large structure, I suggest you subdivide it so a single mass killing does not take out your entire flock. With my layers, the hens are broken up into groups of 10 to 16 individuals each. I could loose an entire group yet not be wiped out.

 

[Manhen]

Any openings larger than 1/2" diameter will allow access to rats and weasels, who will arrive sometime. Consider a very safe coop, with a less secure run area. The better built now, the fewer disasters and rebuilds. Been there, done that.
Mary

A weasel can fit through 1" welded wire? Will they climb it to find a bigger opening I wonder.

 

[centrarchid]

A weasel can fit through 1" welded wire? Will they climb it to find a bigger opening I wonder.

Weasels I have, at least as adult would have a hard time getting through the 1" poultry wire. They can get through tight places but their is some exaggeration too. They are either not world class climbers or they simply do not do it much.

 

[Folly's place]

Rats can and do! Bad experience here with them, and they also enlarge their openings, so any neighborhood weasel could come by. One night, and everyone would be dead.
Predator proofing is an ongoing story...
Ventilation, you bet.
Dividing the flock into two or more sections makes a lot of sense.
Mary

 

[Willowspirit]

I inherited a similar set up except my save was already divided into two largish coops and goat accommodations. For the chicken coops my husband lined them completely in hardware cloth on th inside of the wood. We have pop doors going into the coops on the west side which we close after the chickens go to roost. On the interior east side we have doors covered in hardware cloth and tightly fitted into their frames with those complicated hooks. The door into this side is tightly fitted and has various fasteners on it. I think it is very safe. I hope. I do wish, though I could have a newer structure light and bright.

I forgot to mention that both coops have lots of ventilation with all ventilation openings covered with hardware cloth.

 

[woodmort]

A weasel can fit through 1" welded wire? Will they climb it to find a bigger opening I wonder.

Weasels I have, at least as adult would have a hard time getting through the 1" poultry wire. They can get through tight places but their is some exaggeration too. They are either not world class climbers or they simply do not do it much.

From experience I can tell you an adult weasel can get through any hole big enough to allow a mouse through which is about the size of a quarter. The only protection is half-inch hardware cloth. You may not believe it until you find a bunch of your chickens slaughter with just bite marks on their necks.

BTW, I know of at least one case of a fisher clawing it's way through quarter-inch plywood.

Other than that, if there are loose boards and a raccoon can get it's claw in to it they can, and will, tear their way through. Coons are also world class climbers who can fit through some surprisingly small spaces--I had 3 that managed to get between two pieces of hardware cloth that overlapped by 6 inches when the window was open. They not only got in that way but out of a window 10' above the ground with nothing but siding between it and the ground.

 

[centrarchid]

The quarter is about 0.95 inches in diameter. Is it possible the weasels vary with geographic location?

Edit: We may be talking apples, oranges and plums. Three weasel species in North America. Plus there is subspecies variation that can involve size.

 

[Manhen]

I have put 1/2 inch hardware cloth 4 foot up. Thanks for the insights. I will be adding stringers to reinforce the siding...and patching the holes with spare planks. When they built this barn, the spare lumber they had cut were stored in the rafters,,,quite handy even with the bark still on the plank(s).

 

[centrarchid]

I have put 1/2 inch hardware cloth 4 foot up. Thanks for the insights. I will be adding stringers to reinforce the siding...and patching the holes with spare planks. When they built this barn, the spare lumber they had cut were stored in the rafters,,,quite handy even with the bark still on the plank(s).

How many chickens are you trying to protect? Will they be exiting building for free-range foraging?

 

[woodmort]

The quarter is about 0.95 inches in diameter. Is it possible the weasels vary with geographic location?

Edit: We may be talking apples, oranges and plums. Three weasel species in North America. Plus there is subspecies variation that can involve size.

The most common, both where I live and where you live, is the longtail which also happens to be the largest. (They all change to white in the winter so are also known a ermine.) I have trapped these both for fur and live to get rid of them so have seen them up close. (They're a PIA to skin, BTW.) Their heads are no bigger around than a quarter and they have a unique build that allows them to get their shoulders and hind legs through any hole their head will fit through. This is because there most common prey are mice--they will kill and stockpile them. Trust me, if a mouse can get through a hole, so can a weasel. I had one gain entry to my coop through a place where mice had chewed a corner off the lower edge of a door. I could barely stick my finger through the hole. No chicken wire or welded wire will be a deterrent, go with at least half-inch hardware cloth.

BTW, a mink which is half again larger than a weasel can get through a surprisingly small hole too.

Also, I've lost chickens to weasels, mink and fishers so know from whence I speak.