hElp!!!! Predator fence argument between hubs and I!!

[DramaBrahmaMama]

Hopefully finishing the run this weekend.... Hubs says predator apron only needs to be 1' and I say 2'!! I had meat rabbits that tunneled from one stall to another under a 4x6 gate. Help me out here.... is 1' going to cut it?
PS: We have opossums, skunks, racoons, fox, coyotes, and other typical Midwest predators in the area. We do have 2 male German Shepards on the property that make their rounds and mark their territory.

 

[Battlepants]

It's really all about risk management vs effort/price. If you can go 2' without too much effort/price increase, I say go for it. If you want to go absolutely hardcore - pour a concrete foundation!

 

[Isadora]

We use one foot hardware cloth predator aprons around our coops and have had zero issues with animals digging underneath.
So far, so good.

 

[DramaBrahmaMama]

We use one foot hardware cloth predator aprons around our coops and have had zero issues with animals digging underneath.
So far, so good.

We got the 1/4 inch 23 gauge. I usually deal with the 19g but they were out. So, one foot is good??

 

[Isadora]

We got the 1/4 inch 23 gauge. I usually deal with the 19g but they were out. So, one foot is good??

It has been for us.

 

[3KillerBs]

It all depends on what predators you have, how many alternate food sources those predators have, and what your level of risk tolerance is.

 

[DramaBrahmaMama]

It's really all about risk management vs effort/price. If you can go 2' without too much effort/price increase, I say go for it. If you want to go absolutely hardcore - pour a concrete foundation!

Concretes not in the budget. I wish it was! That would definitely help me sleep better at night!!

 

[DramaBrahmaMama]

It all depends on what predators you have, how many alternate food sources those predators have, and what your level of risk tolerance is.

I have 0 risk tolerance... Hubs on the other hand....

 

[3KillerBs]

P.S. We went with 24" wire because we were cutting 48" wire in half. Because of bending it up to fasten onto the irregular sides of a coop that steps down a hill much of it ended up about 18".

Maybe compromise with 18"? That's 36" wire cut in half.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Depends a bit on your predators. Some, like dopgs, will begin digging just an inch or two from the fence, and if they don't pull it up, a 1' wide skirt will deter them.

Other, shallower digging animals tend to start farther away. Dogs I have experience with, most of the others, I don't. So which those shallow diggers are (other than box turtles, which I also have...) I couldn't tell you.