I’m afraid I’m going to scare you but that’s not my intention. I want to alert you. If you talk to your local animal control and are here in the US, I’d be surprised if you don’t have raccoons, possums, skunks, feral cats, members of the weasel family, rats, and snakes. In many suburban areas you will have bobcats, foxes, fisher cats, and coyotes. You almost certainly have owls and hawks. Dogs are often a huge threat but those 6’ fences will help a bunch with that. Many of those things climb.
In spite of that list, you can make a pretty predator-proof set-up. You are not likely to be able to keep mice out. They can squeeze through some very small holes and chew through wood. The chicken feed will attract them. Even if you secure the feed well (and I recommend keeping it in a metal container with a good lid like a metal garbage can) the food the chickens spill will attract them. My chickens certainly don’t keep the mice cleaned out, especially at night. I trap them to try to keep the numbers down and feed them to the chickens, but I know I’ll never totally eliminate them.
I use the philosophy of having a predator resistant run (I won’t call it predator proof but it really is highly resistant) and lock them in a more predator-proof coop at night. That adds another layer of protection even if you think your run is predator proof, plus more things come out at night and have more free time to look for weaknesses.
Predators can strike at any time, even the ones that people mistakenly think are out only at night, but many people successfully keep their chickens safe even with all these threats around. An apron around the run is very successful in stopping digging predators. Take a sheet of wire maybe 18” to 24”, lay it flat around your run, attach it firmly to the bottom of your run, and maybe take the sod up and place that over the apron. The predator goes up to the fence, starts to dig, hits the wire, and does not know to back up.
A roof can make a big difference, either solid or just out of wire. It will stop any flying or climbing predator from getting in.
Be careful around your gates. They can be points of weakness, but you can build them solid enough that they work. And don’t go real small on your hardware. Hinges need to be robust. So does your locking hardware. Make sure your hasp is large enough for your lock to fit too.
I agree that ½” hardware cloth is a good choice because the gauge is probably heavier, which means the number will be lower. The secret for either one to be successful though is how you attach it. That attachment is often the weakness.
No one can give you any guarantees, but plenty of people are successful in keeping their chickens safe. Good luck!
Ocap, I had an owl land inside my electric netting and go into a coop to get a chicken this past summer. I was out late and did not get the pop door closed at dusk.
