hardware cloth PLUS insect screen?

[prairiepearls]

Do I need BOTH to keep predators AND flies out of the windows and vents of the hen house? Or will a heavy-duty metal window screen keep the predators out?

 

[Tala]

Quote:
I wouldn't bother with the insect screen if you are going to have a "pop door" for the birds to go in and out all day.

Just put hardware cloth on the screens and vents.

 

[Amethyste]

I did both at the beginning....

ended up taking off the screen cos it kept the dust trapped

What a mess....

 

[patandchickens]

No, metal windowscreen will not slow down predators for more than a few seconds.

However, unless you have major gnat problems in your area, or severe mosquito-borne bird disease problems, it may not be really necessary to put insect screens on the coop. Chickens do like eating flies

Pat

 

[speckledhen]

I wish my chickens would eat flies! Regular window screen just traps dust. I remove them and replace with a framework of hardware cloth. Since the pop door is open and hopefully, you also have ventilation up high in addition to windows, you won't be able to keep insects out of the coop anyway.

 

[mrkpero]

I kept the insect screen on window and on screen door initially. Like Amethyste said, it made a mess of with all the dust. I cut both screens out of the frame and just kept hardware cloth and ventilation was much better and let in lots more light. Have not had any more flies/bugs than I had before.

 

[prairiepearls]

Ah, great info! I'm planning on a dog-door type door with a flap (lockable at night) and was thinking of putting screens over all the vents, too, but it sounds like the trapped dust would be more of a problem than some flies. And it never occurred to me that the chooks might just EAT the flies!

So I will save myself the aggravation and just go with hardware cloth over the openings. Thanks so much!

 

[GardeNerd]

My coop is small. I have both metal window screen and hardware cloth on the openings of my coop and run. I did it to keep out the mosquitoes. It has worked good so far for that purpose. It keeps out flies too.

I live next to a pond and down the road from the San Gabriel river. We get LOTS of mosquitoes in the winter and spring. There have been a few cases of West Nile and a couple of Encephalitis/Meningitis in people within a few blocks of my house, and many dead birds a few years ago. The screening was an added protection. The screening does get dusty after awhile, but since my coop is small, I just go over it with a broom, and in less than few minutes it is good as new. It would never keep out the raccoons, so that is why it is a double layer with hardware cloth.

 

[Opa]

I use DE in both my run and my coop and have very little problem with flies.

 

[Chieftain]

I put both hardware cloth and metal fly screen on my coop windows, and I want to see if it does any good. It wasn't overly difficult or expensive to install, and I won't shed any tears if I need to remove it later. I had not seen the comments about accumulating dust before, so that is now a consideration as well.