Hardware cloth vs chicken wire

[aart]

If I double over chicken wire and bury it around the edge of the bottom of a chain link fence, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most likely, what is the probability that a predator such as a raccoon or dog or whatever will dig under and eat through two layers of chicken wire?

Important variables to take into consideration
- The kind I have is 2" galvanized.
- The chicken wire will be secured directly to the chain link fence
- I will bury it anywhere from 12 to 18 inches deep

I would go down 2" and out away from run wall 18", easier to do and more effective, it's called an 'apron'.
They will dig right where the wall meets the ground, hit the wire and move over or move on.

I laid my apron right on the ground- had to pin it down with landscape staples in some places.
Grass grew right up thru it and I can mow over it.......in most places, in others I really wish I had buried it a couple inches.

 

[Luke 13V34]

I would go down 2" and out away from run wall 18", easier to do and more effective, it's called an 'apron'.
They will dig right where the wall meets the ground, hit the wire and move over or move on.

I laid my apron right on the ground- had to pin it down with landscape staples in some places.
Grass grew right up thru it and I can mow over it.......in most places, in others I really wish I had buried it a couple inches.

I have been hearing about this apron idea, but am naturally a bit skeptical. Would an apron of chicken wire really be a deterrent? I read that they just go through it the same as if it were the fence when it is used as an apron. I am considering just killing a raccoon and impaling it's a head on a spike in front of the coop sort of like Dracula (and so many others) did to deter enemies (not really, but the roosters would certainly be pretty arrogant about it).

 

[aart]

Quote: Well, and I think you know this, it would be better to use a heavier wire mesh for an apron(or anything else) than to use chicken wire even if it is doubled/staggered....
.......but if that's all ya got or are willing to pay for, then it's better than nothing.

 

[Luke 13V34]

As long as raccoons don't have a tendency to chew through plywood, I should be okay. The pen will mainly be to keep out dogs and keep the birds in. I will just need to get them into the coop at night and shut it up.

 

[VikingLars]

It depends on your design.

I used chicken wire on my coop because I already had a roll sitting in my scrap pile, and I mostly made the coop out of "reclaimed/repurposed" materials. I live on the border between a highly urban area and a national forest. So I do see some coyotes and raccoons in my neighborhood on occasion. I've only seen bears, cougars, and bobcats in the wilderness area, about 5+ miles away -- they don't really come down past the foot of the mountains.

Despite this, I feel pretty secure about my setup. My coop is in my backyard, which is fenced off. I have dogs which bark at a pin-drop on my property. And the areas where I have the chicken wire are not really a concern.

Floor: solid plywood.
Front: completely solid (windows) with a little latching access door
Sides: full width doors with double locks. There is a little triangular gap at the top (due to the slope of the roof) which I covered with chicken wire. Even if a raccoon somehow manages to get up there and rip open the chicken wire, he wouldn't be able to fit through the opening.
Back: open frame construction covered with chicken wire (I made the coop to be completely see-through from the front/back). This would be a concern, but it's butted right up against my laundry room. A predator would have to break into my laundry room, then break through the screens (if the windows are open), then through the chicken wire.

 

[Porch Chickens]

I have had a coop only with chicken wire and no wire at all buried under the floor now for 3 years and all has been fine. This coop is in our fenced yard, but we do get raccoons, skunks, possums, and foxes in our yard, and occasionally a coyote or two walking down the middle of our street (and this is an inner-city neighborhood 5 minutes from downtown San Diego high rises!). We've been lucky I guess, and having a large dog in the yard is probably a deterrent as well.
The reason our set-up is so flimsy, is that my husband threw together a "temporary" coop, until he "had time" to build a really nice one, which of course never happened ( in his defense, he really has NOT had time!). I'm finally having a new coop and run built by San Tan Valley Coops in Arizona, and it will be completely enclosed by wood and hardware cloth with a real solid roof.

My husband is preparing the base for it now. He doesn't want to throw out all that chicken wire that was on the old coop and would like to use it to bury under the dirt floor. Did down a few inches, put down chicken wire, then gravel, then sand, then dirt, so it will drain well. I can't see any reason the chicken wire would not be OK to use this way, as I can't imagine a predator digging all the way under and then chewing/ tearing through it, and then burrowing trough several inches of gravel as well.
Any thoughts? Hate to send chicken wire to the landfill if we can re-use it.

 

[gpeters3]

I've used chicken wire for about 5 years now, top and bottom with no predator issues. Could be the fact that the community hired some coyote control people to clean up the area, don't know but they used to be around a lot at night. I think my area has changed from rural to Rogers city in the last 15 years or so. All the farmers parted out their land for residential which probably discourages predators, not sure. I now have no run and no exposed chicken wire and will be free ranging them during daylight hours. Looking into the auto chicken door idea now.

 

[Teai]

I am having problems with sparrows ratting all the chicken food, any suggestions? I have a chain link kennel for my chicken run and just don't want it to look like Fort Knox with armor.

 

[aart]

I am having problems with sparrows ratting all the chicken food, any suggestions? I have a chain link kennel for my chicken run and just don't want it to look like Fort Knox with armor.

Put the feed inside the coop?
Get a treadle feeder?
....or smaller mesh over the chain link.

 

[ladyearth]

I mistakely put 2 inch at top and top sides ....so birds get thru in those places plus fly thru the open gate...
when they are in their field fenced in...Wild birds and fly even into the coop thru a plastic split curtain I made. Also the small birds can get thru the kennel and poultry wire 1 inch openings.at the roof ..... I hate the creepos