Duckworth
Songster
As many of you know, we recently lost a duck to a probable raccoon. The only way it could have gotten into our 1/4 and 1/2" HWC pen was through a small, heavy-duty tarp-covered gap between the HWC roof and the top of the wall seven feet off the ground. There was several inches of snow and ice covering the tarp at the time. Now that everything is thawed out and melted, we will be adding more wire and another tarp to seal that up. The tarp was pulled tight across the gap with anchors, but that apparently wasn't enough to keep a predator out.
Going by this experience, I would use HWC for your walls and at least welded wire for the roof and anchor both in such a way that it cannot be pulled away from your structure. I used decking screws and fender washers (flat metal 3/4" washers with small center holes) to anchor the HWC to the wood framing. We have a solid surface floor, as per local ordinance, and we put trim boards over the bottom of the HWC to ensure nothing could pull the edge of the wire away from the frame. My husband use to say I had over engineered the pen, but not anymore.
Going by this experience, I would use HWC for your walls and at least welded wire for the roof and anchor both in such a way that it cannot be pulled away from your structure. I used decking screws and fender washers (flat metal 3/4" washers with small center holes) to anchor the HWC to the wood framing. We have a solid surface floor, as per local ordinance, and we put trim boards over the bottom of the HWC to ensure nothing could pull the edge of the wire away from the frame. My husband use to say I had over engineered the pen, but not anymore.
