How Secure is 1/2" Hardware Cloth...?

[MizzouLawyer]

So, I worked on the new chicken coop again today (first time I've ever done this). I am wrapping the entire run (8' wide by 18' long) with 1/2" hardware cloth on 36" centers. I am burying it about 18" deep and folding it outwards another 24" (see below). I will then bury it under dirt and allow the grass to grow up around the run so that anything that tries to dig under from the outside will hit the hardware cloth, thus (hopefully) deterring it any further. Is this going to be secure enough to protect from predators....?

 

[rlephoto]

maybe so. Unless you get a bear wanting in the coop. I'd imagine hardware cloth would just make it mad.

 

[quigley257]

1/2" hardware cloth is an excellent choice. Definitely not the cheapest but one of the most durable and secure. Coop looks good!

 

[MizzouLawyer]

Ha! Thanks for the input... No bears here in central MO (hopefully!) - mostly fearful of raccoons, foxes, coyotes and an occasional bobcat/mountain lion. I'll try to post some better close-up pics when I'm finished with the run (hopefully later this week).

 

[Eggcessive]

You can also use the 2x4 horse fencing all over for extra strength, and then just put the hardware cloth over it around the bottom 2 or 3 feet. Hardware cloth is much better than chicken wire, since raccoons can pull chickens through the holes with their paws, but it is very expensive and kind of a pain to work with.

 

[jellybellyx6]

A raccoons and foxes will just crawl over the fence unless you put something over the top, At least that is what they did to us last year. I am not sure about bobcat or mountain lion we have not caught those in our runs yet. We do have a mountain lion lurking about but we have not seen it attack our chickens yet. I think it is too busy getting the goats and sheep around us to bother with our chickens. If you have other people around you though with chickens as far as the digging goes they will most likely move on down the road to an easier kill. We are just putting chicken wire over our coops and think that is enough to deter them from trying to get into our coops this year.

 

[redsoxs]

I have an run that is not closed on the top - the only thing I worry about is hawks (hasn't happened yet). My thought is even though 4-legged critters can access from the top, they won't likely do so in daylight hours and at light the birds at locked up tight on their coop.

 

[MizzouLawyer]

I will be wrapping the entire run (including the top) with the 1/2" hardware cloth - here's a pic of the progress I made yesterday (you can see my rafters on the top of the run where I'll be attaching the hardware cloth). Thanks, everyone, for the comments.

 

[jellybellyx6]

Looks like a good coop and run. I just had to throw the comment in about the top because I never would have thought foxes would have jumped a 6 foot fence but they did that to ours last year and wiped out our entire flock. And they did that night and day mostly in the morning hours.

 

[CedarAcres]

Hardwire cloth is great! It's kept out some predators from our coop (we use it on the windows). Looks like you are doing an awesome job!