Have you seen the price

[Wise Woman]

Oh Mr. NoShoulders, know him well...You'll need to go higher than 2 ft to keep the snakes out. Keep the grass short, leaves, brush/ornamentals, compost piles as far away from your runs as possible. Too, Timber and Copperheads both have a camouflage that blend in very well with these things too making them difficult to spot. Don't leave any feed available for rodents. 1/2" mesh is good for making snake traps. The skin of 6 ft Canebreak, 17 rattles and a buttons pinned to the wall is my reminder to be vigilant. Dispatched a small one a few days ago outside the coop with a box full of poults in my lap. Be careful.

The entire run will be covered in the hardware cloth. The bottom 4 ft will have an additional layer of 14 gage welded wire. There will be no place for the snakes to get in. The run has a solid roof as well. We are also investing in a couple of Grandpa's feeders so nothing will be able to come in and eat feed and attract snakes. The run will be surrounded by hardware cloth and gravel. Those devils aren't getting into my coop.

 

[Birdinhand]

around here we have a grange that sells 14 gauge, 4'x100' rolls for $250, which is a deal from what I can find. but even that galvanized stuff is prone to rust if exposed to enough water under ground. I would recommend coating the under ground skirt portion with something to keep the water out. galvanizing can only handle so much and I think the high nitrogen plus water leads to an extra caustic effect on the wire. my other mod will be to increase the eves on future builds to reduce the amount of dripping along the fence line. mind drips right on the hardware cloth, and 3 years into it I have dug under it to add water and electric and found that it is failing remarkably quickly. I've considered buying liquid cilicone or plastic... it's a bit of a let down to me that I have to go to yet another expense and more work, but that's what so great about you having not built it yet! you get to learn from all our fumbles :~). the extra work does make me wonder if pouring a slab would have been worth it, with a rim up a good six inches above the ground with the HWC enveloped.

 

[aart]

We probably are going to do an apron because the people that owned our home before us filled the entire yard with gravel and it is a hideous chore digging anything out. He is going to try to shovel a trench as deep as he can and lay the HC into the trench and cover that with gravel. He will be attaching the HC from the top of the run down and into the trench, section by section. Everything will be attached with washers and screws so the HC will be attached at the bottom of the run and then laid into the trench as one piece. If this makes any sense.

But the 14ga will be on the lower part too, correct?
Better to use that as apron.....but, oh....maybe not large enough to go as high as you want and make an apron.

 

[Wise Woman]

But the 14ga will be on the lower part too, correct?
Better to use that as apron.....but, oh....maybe not large enough to go as high as you want and make an apron.

Yes, the 14 gage will be on the lower part of the run. From the bottom up 4 ft. We are going to put the HC on first and then the 14 gage will go over top of that. If we have enough 14 gage left over, we will be able to use it for the apron. I will know more after we get working on installing it.

 

[Wise Woman]

around here we have a grange that sells 14 gauge, 4'x100' rolls for $250, which is a deal from what I can find. but even that galvanized stuff is prone to rust if exposed to enough water under ground. I would recommend coating the under ground skirt portion with something to keep the water out. galvanizing can only handle so much and I think the high nitrogen plus water leads to an extra caustic effect on the wire. my other mod will be to increase the eves on future builds to reduce the amount of dripping along the fence line. mind drips right on the hardware cloth, and 3 years into it I have dug under it to add water and electric and found that it is failing remarkably quickly. I've considered buying liquid cilicone or plastic... it's a bit of a let down to me that I have to go to yet another expense and more work, but that's what so great about you having not built it yet! you get to learn from all our fumbles :~). the extra work does make me wonder if pouring a slab would have been worth it, with a rim up a good six inches above the ground with the HWC enveloped.

Thanks for the tip. We do have eaves all the way around, which will help. I am beginning to think you never get it all right no matter what you do. LOL.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Thanks for the tip. We do have eaves all the way around, which will help. I am beginning to think you never get it all right no matter what you do. LOL.

I have a rain gutter on my coop to collect rain water in the barrel. Running water!

 

[aart]

I am beginning to think you never get it all right no matter what you do.

Wwwweeellll, there are many ways to do things 'right'.
If it works for you, it's 'right'.
Very few things that I have designed and built where I was totally satisfied and didn't see some aspect that could have been done a little differently/better.

 

[Wise Woman]

I have a rain gutter on my coop to collect rain water in the barrel. Running water!

We are going to be doing this as well! We have a metal roof on the run and I already have a rain barrel so all we will need to do is add the rain gutter! I think it will be very handy. The only problem is that we can sometimes go for months without any rain, but when it does rain, I will be ready!

 

[Wise Woman]

Wwwweeellll, there are many ways to do things 'right'.
If it works for you, it's 'right'.
Very few things that I have designed and built where I was totally satisfied and didn't see some aspect that could have been done a little differently/better.

So true. I have been planning for this since 2011, so I am anxious to get everything right because DH has already made it very clear he will never do this ever again. LOL!!! Hence my obsession with getting everything exactly the way I want it.

 

[Sam and ELLA]

After I lost 4 of my 5 hens to a trash panda (raccoon) I completely covered my coop top, bottom, and sides with 18ga HW cloth. I have not had another predator instance.