how far to bury fencing? predator proofing

[RasMama]

Boy has BYC taken a toll on me. I came here to find some information on how to protect against predators... now not only do I have 4 more chicks waiting for me, I have to build a whole new run too. phew!
So I'm trying to be cheap here. I lock up the girls at night, so attacks from above aren't as important. I'll be putting bird netting or something similar up there, but my main concern is digging in. I had originally planned on digging down a couple inches and bending the hardware cloth so that it came out about 12" & covering that with pavers or cinder blocks. I was thinking that idea because we have lots of rocks & roots in the run area & I didn't think digging a trench would be doable. But I put in the corner support posts last night & the digging wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I'm thinking I might be able to dig a trench & have the hardware cloth go straight down, but don't know how far down it should go. would 6-9" be enough or should it be more like 12"? I'll also be piling pavers or cinder blocks around the outside still, so any digging attacks would have to dig under all the weighted stuff & then under the wire also.
Any insights would be appreciated, or ideas for other ways to secure the bottom of my coop.

 

[lux_interior]

I think digging the wire in or trenching is the best plan, thats how mine is. I would say 6'' to 9'' is quite enough, what kind of predators do you have? The main concern in my area is racoons, and they'll give up digging soon enough if they hit wire, they won't be bothering to dig a foot into the ground!

 

[joedie]

I put mine 12 inches. I know it's alot of work around the coop foundation AND run! I just wouldn't want to take any chances.

 

[RasMama]

Quote:
skunks & coons. Skunks are what attacked before, but I know there are racoons around too.

 

[chickens3]

Put the wire underground.