Fencing in the run question

[Morgan2002]

Hello,

We are getting ready for our chicks to move outside. They're just three weeks old at this point, but we're in the prep stage. We are going to attach our dog run to the coop. We purchased 1/2" hardware cloth to line the coop. So, a few questions:

How high should the cloth go?

Should we put the hardware cloth on the outside or inside?

I've heard we should bury the hardware cloth about 12" into the ground. This may sound silly, but does that mean to dig a narrow trench around the perimeter so that the entire thing is wrapped in hardware cloth with the bottom of the HW cloth 12" in the ground.... or does it mean we should create a floor 12" beneath the interior of the pen? Confused! This is probably obvious, but I want to make sure we keep them safe.

We have dozens of hawks in the area so will have to create a roof as well. They should be very comfy in this arrangement as the run is fairly large.

 

[bryan99705]

Suggest 24" up the wall of the kennel panel and a skirt of 18" to 24". You can dig it in but laying it flat works just as well and doesn't loosen the ground for the diggers. The deal is a dog or fox will start their dig at the base of the panel and if they hit wire will quickly realize it 's not working

and move on. I suggest running the wire down the inside of the kennel panel then go under the panel's frame and just let it lay. Easy and very effective.

As to the top, if the birds are in a raccoon secure coop at night, all you need on the top is deer netting or a shade tarp stretched over to keep hawks out. If your coop is not secure or the chickens are not locked up, then you need to wire in the top.

Hope this clears things a little. Have fun with your birds