How to attack hardware cloth to metal run?

[Sandbyter]

From your pictures your run seems nice. I use welded wire with chicken wire. I have buried it in some places along the bottom of my fence. Here I did leave the wire sticking up somewhat and fastened the wire with cable ties but usually I bury the wire completely and use hog rings to attach it to the bottom of the fence. I have also added welded wire with the chicken wire. I have been replacing cable ties with wire because the cable ties do eventually deteriorate and fall off. Don't have that problem with wire. On this side of the pens I only have 2 electric wires but on the other side I have three wires. Predators learn to respect the electric wire. Even if a person was to touch it, they would get a shock, at least enough to know not to touch it again. Most predators inspect with their noses first and if they touch the wire, they only touch it once.
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This is my chick/grow-out coop. The coyote knows the wire is hot and won't touch it.
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Thanks! I will look into also using electric fencing - I am worried about the bears. And a bear will just rip at the whole run/cage and could tip it over. I have invested much money and time already - might as well play it super safe!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Interesting, didn't know there were metal zip ties. Good to know, thanks!

Metal zip ties are a lot more expensive, so I used them sparingly in spots where I thought there could be more predator traffic, like on the lower portion of the run door.

 

[cmom]

Interesting, didn't know there were metal zip ties. Good to know, thanks!

When I was looking in my area, the only place that sells the metal cable ties is ACE. They are more expensive. I started using wire. I too do it alone and sometimes it's a pain and I have a lot of large pens. I'm not complaining. For me it was the cost because I needed so many so it would have been a small fortune to use metal cable ties. Sometimes for a quick repair I will use the plastic ones but replacing them all eventially with the metal wire. I still have a lot of the plastic cable ties to replace. Again, good luck and have fun...

 

[Folly's place]

It's been a long time since we bought any, and it wasn't a huge number then. They do work very well, and last a very long time!
Mary

 

[ryansacct22]

Wow. I have the exact same run as you, looks like the same tarp, and I also have uneven ground. However I was a little lazier than you and just bent the clamps a little bit here and there instead of leveling the ground lol.

I used zipties to attach the cloth to the run, and I just attached the cloth apron into the dirt with nails.

Although I hope to never find out, I believe a motivated bear could tip our run over if he/she really wanted to. My hope is that the resistance from the nailed-in hardware cloth and the weight of the run will cause a bear to find easier targets...but we have a reported 400 pound black bear in the neighborhood right now. If he wants in bad enough...and I'm not home to intervene...it's bye-bye chickens. I think the odds of this are extremely low and I live in the heart of black bear country (the birds go inside at night).

Best of luck.

 

[cmom]

I know there are bears here, but I have never seen one. The largest predator here is the coyote. At my chick/grow-out coop, last year something was able to force a gate open. The gate normally opens out. One morning the post with the electric wires next to the gate was bent over and the gate had been pushed in. I have a piece of wire to keep the gate from going in and it was now on the outside of the gate. It had to be something with a lot of force to get the gate past that wire on the bottom of the fence. Whatever it was broke the top insulator on the post so I carefully wired it back on but have since replaced it. I had my game camera on but didn't get a picture because, naturally it was a foggy night. The only predator I could distinguish, was a fox but I couldn't see the gate. I wouldn't think a fox could open the gate by force. Two young birds were killed that night.

 

[cmom]

I have cable ties to hold the wire on while I attached it to the back side of the wood so the wire is rigid. The wire is 1/2" x 1" welded wire. I wish everything would stay straight but the coops shift and the fence posts some so that makes the gates shift. This one is attached to the coop and the coop is leaning slightly.

 

[CindyinSD]

I've worked on a large greenhouse frame like that, but big tubes, like 4x6.
Screws actually had cutters at the tips, they were still pretty hard to drive.

Yes, that's the kind I used. They were called self-tapping screws in the parts list. Those fence panels she has look a lot like our back-yard fence I put up to keep my mom from wandering off. The square tubing was aluminum and pretty easy to screw into, even using a regular drill. I think part of the difficulty with the greenhouse was screwing into a rounded surface, but mostly it was being way the heck up on a ladder and in awkward positions.

But there are plenty of ways to attach the hardware cloth, and OP will choose whatever seems best and/or easiest in their situation and with their available resources.

 

[Panhandler80]

You could drill the metal every 18" or so. Then get some treated wood and sandwich the hardware cloth with the wood and metal by using nuts and bolts.

 

[Sandbyter]

Wow. I have the exact same run as you, looks like the same tarp, and I also have uneven ground. However I was a little lazier than you and just bent the clamps a little bit here and there instead of leveling the ground lol.

I used zipties to attach the cloth to the run, and I just attached the cloth apron into the dirt with nails.

Although I hope to never find out, I believe a motivated bear could tip our run over if he/she really wanted to. My hope is that the resistance from the nailed-in hardware cloth and the weight of the run will cause a bear to find easier targets...but we have a reported 400 pound black bear in the neighborhood right now. If he wants in bad enough...and I'm not home to intervene...it's bye-bye chickens. I think the odds of this are extremely low and I live in the heart of black bear country (the birds go inside at night).

Best of luck.

Yes, the run is nice and sturdy - I now have the hardware cloth attached with hog rings and that was pretty easy. The only thing that bothers me about that is that they have sharp tips. But it is unlikely the chickens will actually touch them. I also used metal camp stakes to hold the hardware cloth down at the edges. Today I plan on laying bluestone stepping stones onto the hardware cloth as well and hide the rest with mulch.

It's funny, we actually live in the suburbs about 30 miles north or New York City, but close to Harriman State Park. Supposedly we have like 5 bear dens in the area and last year. I saw a black bear crossing the road about a mile from my house.

I hope you are right that the weight of the hardware cloth, and the stepping stones and anchors will help to keep the run on the ground.

Though what would you do if a bear attacked during the day and you are at home? It would be dangerous to go outside. We are not allowed to shoot here.