How long of a run apron

[WildChicken]

I was outside in the backyard grilling one time and a hawk swooped in and caught one of my Seabright bantam hens right in front of me. Poor thing never saw it coming. I took off after the hawk with the chicken in the claw. Luckily that hawk was having trouble getting off the ground and I was able to rescue my hen. They'll go for the bantams a lot quicker than a big chicken. My favorite Seabright rooster Ole Barn Farmington (may he R.I.P.) eventually got caught by the hawks. That made me real mad

. They were shut up at night too. I was just letting them free range some during the day. Oh well, I just thought I would share my story.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Sorry, but it still IS in large part luck. Unless you are camping out there every hour of daylight, every day of the year, with your rifle on your knee and no napping.

Go browse the "Predators and Pests" section of the forum, and see how many people in basically your situation (tho often it is dogs always on patrol, rather than husband with firearm) DO INDEED sometimes lose chickens to predators.

If you *like* it this way, I do not see anything whatsoever wrong with that, everything in life is a tradeoff and there is no such thing as zero risk in most things.

My only problem is when this gets generalized to "there is no point in having more-than-chickenwire fencing because you don't need it, you can be just as safe without it". Which is simply not true.

(E.t.a. - I don't see many, if any, people calling chickenwire "a travesty" as you seem to think... what people here ARE saying is that if one uses only chickenwire it should be with the knowledge that it really is less predatorproof. It is up to each individual to decide whether less-predatorproof is okay. A lot of people feel it is. A lot of people feel it isn't. I just think people should make an INFORMED choice)

No predator losses YET is not the same as predatorproof. Just like "I have been crossing against the lights in NYC for twenty years and nothing's happened to me" is not the same as jaywalking carrying no extra risks.

Pat

 

[f8thnjc]

Quote:
Sorry, but it still IS in large part luck. Unless you are camping out there every hour of daylight, every day of the year, with your rifle on your knee and no napping.

Go browse the "Predators and Pests" section of the forum, and see how many people in basically your situation (tho often it is dogs always on patrol, rather than husband with firearm) DO INDEED sometimes lose chickens to predators.

If you *like* it this way, I do not see anything whatsoever wrong with that, everything in life is a tradeoff and there is no such thing as zero risk in most things.

My only problem is when this gets generalized to "there is no point in having more-than-chickenwire fencing because you don't need it, you can be just as safe without it". Which is simply not true.

(E.t.a. - I don't see many, if any, people calling chickenwire "a travesty" as you seem to think... what people here ARE saying is that if one uses only chickenwire it should be with the knowledge that it really is less predatorproof. It is up to each individual to decide whether less-predatorproof is okay. A lot of people feel it is. A lot of people feel it isn't. I just think people should make an INFORMED choice)

No predator losses YET is not the same as predatorproof. Just like "I have been crossing against the lights in NYC for twenty years and nothing's happened to me" is not the same as jaywalking carrying no extra risks.

Pat

Everyone has their opinion. I know people who have Fort Knox as a coop and have lost more chickens than me (since I have lost none). I really don't care what people want to do, it's their choice. Just don't go telling people they are wrong. We do things our own way. When I give advice on here, I try to say how we do it, not "don't do that, they will die." It's the judgement that leads people to not want to share on a great forum like this.

 

[WayneT]

Why not put the wire on the floor inside the run? That way anything trying to dig under can't come up on the inside of the run. Covering it with gravel or sand (or both) would make it even more secure.

 

[Carols Clucks]

I will admit I am building out chicken run with 1" poultry wire (not the super flimsy 2" chicken wire they sell here)


We have had chickens since 1965 at this lot, I think we have a good idea what kind of critters we will attract.

It will be a small run (6x8), I scored some 1/2" hardware cloth, so that will get used around the lower 2' of the run (hope I have enough or I will have to find some more) I will even bend a foot or so and use as an apron around the run. 12x12 pavers will surround the whole run.

In the past we had chainlink and the flimsy chicken wire. It was a bad job of pulling the chainlink, all scrounged up stuff my dad had brought home over the years. We lost a couple of chickens with that set up too.

Of course I know the big chicken killer around her place for the past few years, my dog...sigh He used the people door to get in. He is 8 now and a 24" kennel panel will keep him in, so I feel good about only going up 24" with the hardware cloth

I mostly deal with that predator by using a leash and not letting him on the chicken side of the fence.


In the past we did loose a lot to critters in the night, but that was before I rebuilt the old run with the chainlink and they did not have a proper locking coop to be safe in at night. Critters would find any crack we left and get in. We had a tree growing out of the thing and it was usually the entry point, or the people door that never fit right or the chickens themselves taking dust baths and leaving critter sized holes. Raccoons and opossums.

We now have a nice and secure coop to lock them in at night, the run is just for when it is rainy or when we need them contained, thus I am less worried about using poultry wire. They free range every day otherwise. We did have a young hawk take a swoop at them this winter, first time I can remember. We have cut down a LOT of trees so the hawk almost had room to swoop-he nearly hit my mom instead and that was the last time he tried it. We do have a lot of trees for them to hide under, chairs, tables, even branches they can take cover under. Our neighborhood has also changed, more and more upscale homes, less open space. We have also cleaned out our lot so there are few hiding spots for critters to take cover.

Because our chickens will be secure at night and free range in the day on a fenced property, I am willing to take the of risk using poultry wire.

I would probably feel different if I was new to chickens or knew I had more aggressive predators.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Why not put the wire on the floor inside the run?

It costs too much, and chickens like to dig too.

It's better to keep the predators from digging at all​