I didn't use hardware cloth.

[Birdsong 82]

My other option which is plan B

View attachment 1327740

I like plan B

 

[blayt90]

Raccoons are tough because they can climb and they can reach through! Good luck.

I solved my raccoon problem with a hot wire on top and on bottom of my pen. The first night it was hooked up I found a dead raccoon. He was at one of the corners outside the pen draped over the bottom hot wire . Looked like he was trying to reach in and got toasted. My Electric fence consists of a 120 volt wire ran around my pen with a 100 watt light bulb as a load source.

 

[GracieJ]

Fort Knox over here. Learnt the hard way after having two free roaming rabbits viciously and unfairly killed by a fox after three years of no predators entering the garden. Luckily my other free roaming rabbits hid very well. That day was horrendous. Don’t risk it people, it’s not worth it.

 

[llombardo]

I tell you..I'm taking in all these losses and trying my hardest to protect these guys.

I know for a fact there is a large raccoon that hangs out in front of my house. I saw him 2x in the last week. There is no evidence that he has attempted coming in the yard as of yet. I do have rabbits in the hutches for the last year out there. I do have a 6 ft vinyl fence with stone along the edges and under gates.

My friend gave me a trail cam. I think I might put it out there this weekend to see if I see anything coming in and out and how they are doing it.

The dogs also have weird hours. I have a senior that likes to go out at 2-3 in the morning and just lay out there. Due to coyotes my youngest GSD gets the job of keeping her safe. Hopefully the dogs can be good deterrants.

 

[blayt90]

This is how I wired my hot wire.

 

[HenHouse4Life]

For me hardware cloth isn't an on purpose Fort Knox, nor is it due to suffering losses, it's because I hope not to and I only wanted to build the chicken run once (which my husband appreciates). As long as you and your flock are happy that's all that matters.

 

[llombardo]

I'm just going to double and triple everything, no joke. I'm terrified of losing them.

I'm also putting iron fence around the coop with wire also. If these little asses get through all this wire I don't know what else to do. Maybe that is where I will attach the coyote rollers?

 

[JMotuzick]

What a great thread for run ideas! I’m planing a 10x12 always open run. It will be covered so I won’t shovel as much next winter! I’m thinking 2x4 construction, HC on the bottom couple feet plus some buried. Then hex chicken wire up to the 8’ mark where the roof meets it. My biggest concern is the gate! I’m not going to have access with out one. I’d like it to be wide as well. My small tractor is 42” and I’d like to use it to dump clippings weeds etc. any good secure 48” wide gate ideas?


I should add we have electric fence around the less secure run now... 6” and 24” off the ground. It will go around this new 24/7 run as well.

 

[Foster's Freehold]

We have coyotes in our area as well. But none have come in the yard that we know of. DH swears it's because he pees in the backyard from time to time. And the coyotes figure someone is marking their territory and stay out.

He's right. The smell of human urine can be detected a long way. I too believe that's why the coyotes don't come up. Coons and possums are a different story, and if man pee would make hawks stay away, I'd make the hubs climb up and pee on the netting lol.

 

[Birdsong 82]

The door to our run doesn’t need to fit a tractor so it smaller. But the wood gate I built to my garden is probably about 48 inches wide. All I did was use two by sixes vertically and two 2 x 4‘s screwed in the bottom then one in the middle and one at the top. I added a brace diagonally from top to bottom since it’s tall and then put hardware cloth. It’s strong enough to keep out for determined goats from a pact garden so I would think it would also work for a chicken run. I ended up attaching it to 4 x 4 posts. The gate doesn’t look like it’s out of Better Homes & Gardens but not too bad For just using extra wood we have around