Fencing for the duck run

[TracyZ]

Our ducks are only 1 week old so they won't be going outside for a while but I'm getting really stressed about making sure their duck run will be predator proof. We have their coop mostly build and I think may have made it a little big, pictures are attached below. The top edge is 8ft tall, it is 10.5 ft wide. We plan to make the run 10.5ft X 23ft.

What is the best fencing that people have found to prevent predators? We also plan to let them into our fenced backyard when we are out to supervise them.
Electric fence?
Hardware Cloth?
Other fencing?
Part of the fence sunk into the ground?




I have read through lots of posts about fencing but seem to get overwhelmed by all the different options and often have a hard time visualizing the ideas.

We have hawks, coyotes, raccoons, and probably a lot of other predators that I'm not thinking.

Thanks,
Tracy

 

[needlessjunk]

Are they gong to be locked up at night? What daytime predators do to have? My set is that I have my ducks locked up at night in a duck house with hardware cloth covering all open spaces. Most of it is sandwiched between the frame and door edgeing. The rest is secured with washers and screws. For my run I'm using chicken wire but that is all I need for daytime. They are inside my privacy fenced yard and just need protection mainly from my dogs and possibly hawks.

 

[needlessjunk]

Very nice house by the way!

 

[TracyZ]

Thanks! They will be locked up in the coop at night, which has two latches in each door, on the windows and hardware cloth over any other openings.

I didn't think about the fact that coyotes and raccoons never seem to be around during the day time. We do have hawks and then our dogs. So maybe chicken wire on the run will be enough? That would be a lot cheaper. I've only had them a week and am already so attached to them, I'm paranoid of anything trying to kill them.

 

[PeggiB]

This is ours.. Posts are sunk into the ground.. Our run is 16' x 32'.. We have foxes that show up during the day. Nice house you have there for your ducks!!

 

[TracyZ]

Wow. that looks great! The foxes can't get through the chicken wire (at least I think it looks like chicken wire)?

 

[PeggiB]

It's 1 inch chicken wire.. We have electric fence wire running in the ground around the outside, so if a fox, raccoon, opossum, or anything else tries to dig under, they will get zapped. I'm not too worried about it since my ducks are locked up at night in their house, most of the time. Last night they decided to spend the night in the pool..

 

[TracyZ]

Great information, thank you so much! We plan to have ours in their house at night too.

So the electric wire is actually in the ground? Maybe I'll try that too.

 

[PeggiB]

You're very welcome. Yes, we dug a small trench around and laid the electric wire down. The ducks don't get shocked and I don't get shocked..

 

[KARy408]

We've been keeping our coop (an Eglu Cube) inside a 20 sq ft dog kennel for months now with no problem (knock on wood). We're in rural, northern Cali mountains and have foxes, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions and all birds of prey. Oh and rattle snakes too!

Our kennel came from Home Depot and is just regular fencing, but we attached a 1/4" hardware cloth skirt all the way around, about 3' high and then bent at a right angle about 1' out all along the bottom. The top is covered in bird netting, with a PVC pole in the middle that tents it up and allows us to walk inside comfortably. We attached all the netting and hardware cloth with zip ties.

Our birds are all healthy and thriving. They have free access to their coop, run and pond at all times. I've seen fox and bobcat scat near their coop, but no real signs of disturbance. No digging and no breaches in the fencing. The only evidence I've seen of anybody unwanted getting in was a few pieces of rodent poop on the rooftop of the coop. Since then I've stopped leaving any food out overnight.

I don't know if we're just lucky or if our three dogs have anything to do with it (they all sleep inside with us at night) but I've honestly been impressed over how easy it's been to keep our girls safe so far. My mom needs electric fencing for her chickens in Nevada, but that's because they're in Bear country (and she likes to feed the deer).

Hope that helps!