help with our run

[bungalow10]

Our girls are about three weeks old. DH is constructing their "permanent" run (ie - not the tractor) this week.

We have a 12'x6'x'6 chain link dog kennel that they will be going in, with a chain-link top.

Would you reinforce the chain link with another material like chicken wire or hardware cloth? How far up the sides would you go?

For the ground around the coop, do we need to use hardware cloth or is chicken wire sufficient?

thanks!

 

[PeepsBMobbin]

That is exactly what we are using. I will warn you though that a 6-7 week old chicken can go THROUGH the chain link fence. That is why I have surrounded my dog kennel panels up about 1.5 ft. We don't really have digging things around here? so I don't know about burying it, but I have heard that is the best thing to do. I just wanted to warn you about them getting through. They are all fluff and no meat at that age and I lost two to our own dog when I thought they were safe. If they would have stayed in the wire they would have been fine but the dog jumped at the pen and in desperate fear, the chick ran and squeezed through the wire on the opposite side of the pen. Then the dog ran around and got her. I was too far away to stop it. It is terrible to lose babies that way. Since they are bigger now and better protected we haven't had any more casualties.

 

[bungalow10]

How sad!

Is chicken wire sufficient coverage, or does something more secure (hardware cloth) need to be used?

 

[Noymira]

Quote:
It seems most people use hardware cloth 2-3 feet up the side, but 1" chicken wire should be sufficient to keep the chicks in- as long as the chain link was heavy duty you'd probably be ok with just the chicken wire. If you've got the budget for it hardware cloth would be the safest and strongest route.

 

[bungalow10]

Thanks.

I'll let my husband get the fence up and then inspect it for durability. It was a freecycle and is about 30 years old, so we might be wise to invest in the hardware cloth.