How to pred proof the "bottom" of your run???

[k2chickens]

Well im getting ready to buy wire..how do i make it to where animals can not!!! dig under my run?? Im guessing bury the wire about 10 inches down and place rounded rocks "softball size or bigger" all around the bottom of the frame??? Just an idea i have.

 

[nnbreeder]

Lay wire at a 90deg angle out from the bottom. like a skirt for a Christmas tree. Cover with soil and plant grass after securing it firmly to the base of the pen.

 

[Country4ever]

This has worked great for me:
Besides burying the fencing into the ground........when you're all done building your run, buy some 1/2" hardware cloth and lay it down flat on the entire outside perimeter of your run.....right up to the fence. You can hold it down with landscape staples. After awhile, grass grows right through it and you can't see it......but animals can't dig through it. Its great!

 

[k2chickens]

Quote:
wow so you just layed it on top of the grass a few feet out and the grass grew through??

 

[Lmarie]

We bent out chicken wire at a 90degree angle too, and haven't had anything dig in yet. (1 1/2 yrs) Held down edges with landscape stakes. Predators won't start diggin more than a for or two away from their goal. But we did have a racoon dig over a 1 1/2 ft down under a concrete foundation.
Grass grew right through it, you cannot even tell its there.
Lauren

 

[Peeplperson]

We're shooting for predator proof, so we actually dug 8 inches of dirt out of the run and laid down hardware cloth under the entire run. I used baling wire to 'sew' the overlaps together. Where the wire met the sides, we attached 2 x 6 treated lumber, stapled the wire (with overlap from the side walls) and then covered the staples with 1 x 4's nailed in. Making any sense?

Then we replaced the dirt & added chickens. Nothing will be getting in from below. It was probably more work to start with, but we're trying to safeguard the chickens AND be able to leave for a few days without worry.

Good luck!

 

[Country4ever]

Asylum..........you have to lay the hardware cloth down right next to the bottom of the run fencing.......all around the whole perimeter. So that nothing can dig 2' out or any closer to the run. Animals don't seem to understand that if they back up 2 feet and dig, they could potentially get in.
This has worked great for me. Yes, the grass grows right up through it.
I anchor mine down with great big staples. You can find them in a hardware store in the area where they sell landscape fabric. They work great. Sometimes they heave up a little in winter, but you just step on them and they go back down.
I absolutely love this method of dealing with the lower area around the outside of the run. Its a very simple, yet effective solution.

 

[musson]

I have 23 lb. 12 x 12 pavers all around the perimeter of my coop. They are right up against the fencing which is stapled to landscape ties on the inside of the coop.

I also have 2' high chicken wire in front of my 2x4 welded wire fence to keep small things like snakes out.

So far so good.

 

[harryg6167]

We went down 8-10 inches and put down 1"x4" welded wire. We have roughly 2' inside the coop and 2' outside the coop. Figure if something did back up maybe it would hit the wire on the other side and give up. So far no problems at all in the run or the chicken house itself. Have only had the problems when I turn them out to roam the yard during the day.