Getting ready. Lots of work.

[Marineshooter]

SO we have our coop put together, a couple of post in place (Wood) and the gate installed. Next is going to be putting the t-post in at 6' intervals then attaching the chicken wire. The total area is going to be roughly 40'L X 25'-30'W X 5'T. Should the T-Post be moved closer together and should an angle piece be put at the top in an outward fashion to prevent some Wiley Rabbit (Unwanted critter) from getting in? Also what is the best & easiest way to fasten the Chicken to said T-Post. I read one article about burying some wire approximately 6"-8" out from the base and about 12"-18" down. Our chickens will be locked up at night so as not to be out. Other neighbors have them and have not had any problems with predators. Also the Coop is situated amongst Huge Ponderosa Pines to potentially protect from an attack from above. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are brand new to this. I know we are not supposed to overthink things but personally I have a tendency to do that. I dig deep.

 

[Debbie292d]

Everyone is going to tell you that you should be using 1/2" hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. That said, cable ties/zip strips or hog rings are a couple of things you can use.

You can also bend the wire at the bottom and lay it on the ground out about 18" then cover it with pavers/rocks. Digging it down is a better idea though.

Here's the hardware cloth we bought to give you an idea.

 

[Chicken Man Can]

As the poster above implied, chicken wire ain't up to snuff when it comes to predators. Most any ground predator can chew / tear right through it. I have welded wire around mine, with chicken wire and plastic fencing to cover the holes. Unfortunately I made a fatal mistake of having the fencing secured into OSB (wood board) on one side instead of into 2 by 4 (via poultry staples), and something (raccoon or opossum most likely), ripped the staples out of the OSB and killed all but one of the flock (who died shortly after from stress and / or internal damage).

 

[aart]

Ditto on the chicken wire.
Also at 5' tall there's a good chance your birds will fly right over it.

You can also bend the wire at the bottom and lay it on the ground out about 18" then cover it with pavers/rocks. Digging it down is a better idea though.

Do not put pavers over an anti-dig apron, it defeats the purpose.
Getting it flat and covered with enough dirt/turf to avoid mower blades is key.

Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

 

[Debbie292d]

Ditto on the chicken wire.
Also at 5' tall there's a good chance your birds will fly right over it.


Do not put pavers over an anti-dig apron, it defeats the purpose.
Getting it flat and covered with enough dirt/turf to avoid mower blades is key.

Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

We had no choice. We'd have needed a backhoe to dig as this borders a forest. This is a sunroom off of the coop. They free range but in the winter if it's too cold, we open the coop and they play around in there. That's HWC buried, but using one heck of a lot of rocks! We hauled them from a farmer's field just a mile away, 8 years ago.