Help ! Creeped out by talk of predators...Is my run too big ?

[JoeOxfordCT]

Well I am going to head back out to Home Depot this morning and return the fencing I bought....I think I'm going to go with the 48" green vinyl wrapped hardward cloth 1/2" holes that I'll bury part way in the ground and then another row of 24" of the same material on top. Even though I'm somewhat cringing at the cost.....(already have 1K into their 8'x8' coop

) I don't want to skimp at the end of this project.

Last question.....

I'm going to have a 4' wide gate to get into the run....should I partly bury some wire in the ground so that the gate will close into it ??? Don't want the critters to just dig under the gate...

 

[KrisRose]

Hi Joe-You don't have to bury the hardware cloth at the bottem. You can also lay on the ground and then secure with landscape stapes. I have clay and this save alot of work. You do have to have about a foot of the hardware cloth come out for the sides of your run. Something to considered if your ground is rocky or clay.

 

[Wolfpacker]

I concur with what lots of folk have already said.

I haven't buried any fencind around the perimeter of my run. I've just laid it on the ground and affixed it. Then covered it with mulch.

I tried a chicken wire top last year, and something came through one night. I now have a hardware cloth top.

I lock my birds in their little coop at night. So far so good. We're going into fall and that's when predators get most active so they can fatten up for winter.

 

[JoeOxfordCT]

Man I just came back from 2 different Home Depots ....first I returned the standard chickenwire I had purchased last night....see my earlier post....then I wanted to look for rolls of 1/4" hardware cloth that wrapped with that green vinyl coating so it won't rust as quickly....well the Home Depot closest to me didn't have any so I drove to one a little farther away....they didn't have any either...just the regular rolls of hardware cloth, 4'x25' @ $40 a roll.....Well now I am getting rather disgusted at the cost if I should use this material to surround my run of 150'.....so now I'm wondering if I can just use the green vinyl wrapped chickenwire I've seen there.....I am fastening whatever fencing I get to the fence posts with galvanized screws with very large washers (1 1/4"). I know someone mentioned that raccoons can tear through this wire but the pen is really just to keep the girls safe during the day, they'll be locked in the very secure coop at night. Yes the safety of my girls is obviously the most important thing here but I'm really beginning to feel the pinch financially of getting the coop built and now the pen completed......if 4-6' high of green vinyl wrapped chicken wire (which is significantly cheaper than regular hardward cloth) is not enough protection then my only other option would be to make my pen smaller.....which would be a bummer because of the time & money I spent yesterday with the gas powered post hole digger.....

Sorry for coming off a little whiney but I'm trying to get this project done so I can move on with the other things I need to do to get our house buttoned up for the winter....

 

[PurpleChicken]

Welcome to the forum Joe.

So you went to the home depot in Derby and maybe Waterbury? Both are horrible.

It sounds to me like your birds are gonna be safe. Take your time. I've spent
a LOT more than I expected to on the coops and stuff so I hear your financial pain.
Hardware cloth is expensive. Tractor Suppy in New Milford probably has a good
selection. I go to the one in Winstead/New Hartford.

I need to pick some more up too. Maybe we can save some cash by splitting a large
order.

Don in Beacon Falls

 

[JoeOxfordCT]

Hi Don,

Nice to meet someone so close so quickly !

I went to Derby & Bridgeport Depots actually...I have a $110 credit that I'm trying to use so I'm kinda tied to the Depot for now...

I have to do quick grocery shopping then I'm going to pace off perhaps a smaller run...maybe something around 100' instead of 150'+....

I've had chickens several different times in the past....at houses in Oxford & Woodbury....
Do you think vinyl wrapped chickenwire is useless as daytime pen protection ??
As I'm reading more posts here on the forum I'm seeing that most folks have a pretty poor opinion of the regular chickenwire.....

Quote:

 

[PurpleChicken]

I'm no run expert but I haven't had any predator problems(yet).

My chickens are in a standard 6' dog pen 6'x18'(soon to be bigger).
I use 1/2" hardware cloth to prevent anything from digging under.

They are only in the pen or free reanging when I'm home. Plus we have
dogs that will scare off predators. We have a ton of hawks but they
haven't even come close.

Don

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Galvanized is available on a much wider variety of mesh types. Yes, galvanized wire will still eventually rust, especially if you've been cavalier about letting the coating get scratched, but heck the vinyl-y coating can peel off and rust too. Honestly I have never in my life seen coated hardwarecloth, anyway!

Quote:
Remember there are 2 different ways predators can get chickens. One is by actually coming into the pen. Obviously, pen size doesn't much affect that. However the other way is for predators to REACH THROUGH the mesh and grab hand- or mouthfuls of a conveniently located chicken (or if chicken has its head sticking out through fence...). With a really large pen like you have, as long as you're smart about locating roosts and feeders, your chickens aren't likely to spend much time within grabbing distance of the fence. So you can probably afford to worry less about reach-through attacks than someone with a small run.

Quote:
Why not just use regular ol' fence staples. You know, the kind you hammer in (recommend needlenose pliers to hold staple while starting it with hammer, unless your swearing vocabulary needs expansion), they're galvanized, come in different sizes but I'd use the standard ones that are, what, maybe 1" long? Faster, cheaper.

Quote:
Well, if you did make your pen smaller, your time setting "extra" posts would NOT have been wasted. I have never known anyone with any kind of livestock whatsoever who didn't eventually, usually sooner not later, decide they need to fence in 'just a little more area'

But secondly... you cannot realistically make your chickens 100% safe. Everyone has different levels of safety they're comfortable with but everyone is going to get a nasty surprise of some sort sometime.

Large-gauge 2x3" wire sounds to me like a pretty good basis for a large pen. Pin mesh to the ground vs digging like people have described (make sure it's attached TO the fence), and if you worry about weasels or grab-through attacks then run a 2' or 3' height of half-inch hardware cloth behind the larger wire. I am not sure there is much point in running your hardware cloth higher, though, because all it ends up doing is make the weasels climb a leetle bit further to get in, and honestly I think if you DO get some sort of mountaineering weasel he's unlikely to care whether it's 3' or 6'.

You will probably end up fine-tuning your pen roof arrangements too, once chickens are in. Some people have had problems keeping hawks out with heavy garden netting, let alone the fishing line you're talking about. Maybe plant bushes inside the run so chickens have somewhere to take cover? And if you should find yourself having daytime raccoons going 'over the fence', you might have to think about installing electric or engineering some other kind of coon barrier or scare.

But you can't predict or protect against EVERYthing. You just do your reasonable best according to your personal convictions, and keep an eagle eye out so that hopefully you can make necessary modifications before actually losing any chickens.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[ruth]

Quote:
This is what we did as well because it was impossible to dig into the hardpacked clay - HOWEVER - and I know I'm the odd egg out on this site: We used 1" chicken wire.

I know, I know - please everyone dont' blast me. Someone knew has posted and is asking a very basic question and is already getting freaked out and over budget thinking he needs to build Fort Knox.

Joe - First - It is my firm belief that we are not and cannot - be in control of everything. We have to learn to let go and let God.

Second - chickens were raised, since the dawn of time, by farmers who allowed them to roam around the farm unattended and unsupervised. Chickens are natural foragers and have more inate intelligence, for avoiding predators, than we give them credit for. This is how I raise my chickens.

My run is open at the top, is made of 1" chicken wire on the sides only - my coop is left open at all times. Every morning I open the gate to the run and let the chickens out. If I don't there's every sort of anarchy as they pace in front of the gate waiting (trippng all over each other). They free range around our property which is 8 1/2 acres of woods and creek and every predator known to man including panthers, foxes and hawks and eagles. Big beautiful eagle landed in our backyard the other day - site to see. During the day if one needs to lay an egg, she returns to the coop, goes in, lays her egg and then returns to the flock wherever they are. At night they all return to the coop and put themselves to bed. Once they are all in, I go close the gate. The coop door is left open.

Again, I know that there is a likelyhood that something will go wrong some day but it always does even if they are locked in Fort Knox. Those poor chickens often get bumble foot and diseases from being kept "cooped up" in a deep pile of their own droppings with limited sunlight and exercise and food source. (O.K. now I know I'm going to get blasted but am asking everyone to consider that this does happen.)

Now the final thing is that I do have a great German Shepherd that guards our place and our chickens. He sleeps outside near by bedroom door and the coop/run area. He will chase off anything at the very scent of it coming anywhere near. I know that while something could dig under, fly in, or barrell through the chicken wire or that something could eat them when they are free ranging - NOTHING has. They are healthy and happy and their feathers glow and they have had no lice, mites, disease, or egg bound issues - they don't fight one another or pick each others feathers and there are three different age groups - and there have been no loss to predators nor a single injury.

I can only put my chickens in God's hands as I put my children in God's hands. My children are now grown and on their own but I raised them the same way I raise my chickens - Let Go and Let God.

Note to all: Please don't start with responses that will get this thread locked. I've read all of your opinions and beliefs as has "Joe" and I respect your beliefs and the way you raise your chickens please respect mine. I'm just trying to tell a newbie to "relax and enjoy the chickens" that's what it's all about. You can worry yourself to death about what all could go wrong but then our Lord himself (letters in red in bible) said "Don't worry".

 

[allen wranch]

Locking your birds up at night in a predator secure coop is ideal as most predators hunt at night.

A chicken wire run is OK UNLESS you have coyotes or loose dogs in the area. They are on the prowl night and day. If you have a dog to deter them, that is great. If not, they will go through the chicken wire like it is not even there. That is why welded wire or cattle panels over the chicken wire is safer.

However, a lot of people free range with no problems except an occasional loss. It really depends on your area and your situation.