Hey BYC, I'm building my first coup and run, and my 6 chicks will be here in a few months. I have a very limited budget, but a lot of resources and questions. I plan on building my coop with a wooden shipping crate and modeling my run and design based on geek2nurses coop. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/geek2nurses-diy-coop-run I plan on making my run out of a fully enclosed rectangle of cattle panels. I also plan on making a autofeeder and waterer out of chicken nipples and old 5 gallon buckets. Here are my questions: 1) Will I need to reinforce the cattle panels with chicken wire to keep predators out? 2) Can I leave the coop door open if the run is completely secure? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks!
Rats, raccoons, snakes, small dogs, etc will all be able to get trough or over the cattle panels. Chickens might get through it too. Most people recommend 1/2" hardware cloth. I just posted a question about leaving the coop door open and the response was mixed. Basically it depends on your own personal risk tolerance.
