I lost my redneck princess George last night

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I’m sorry for your loss. We had a loss a few weeks ago to a raccoon that climbed our duck pen and found a way in under an anchored, heavy duty tarp and through a gap between the hardware cloth on the roof and the top of the wall, 7 feet off the ground. We just finished the last of our fortifications last night by using screws and fender washers to secure hardware cloth to seal up that gap.

Hardware cloth is 1/2” or 1/4” wire mesh that comes in rolls—usually in 24”, 36”, or 48” widths. The longer the roll, the cheaper it is per linear foot, usually, so measure what you will need and look for pricing for the size of roll that will give you the best price for those measurements. I would price it at your local home improvement and farm/feed stores and online.

We have raccoons, opossums, foxes, hawks, owls, dogs, and cats here, so security is important for our ducks. Raccoons and opossums both can climb.

The picture below shows hardware cloth so you can see what it looks like. I actually now have another screen door guard grate over the side cleanout door and have attached 24” high welded wire fencing to pieces of 2x4 mounted on the outside bottom of the pen to keep my dogs from being able to claw the HWC. I used 1/4” HWC down low and 1/2” higher up.

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Duckworth said:
I’m sorry for your loss. We had a loss a few weeks ago to a raccoon that climbed our duck pen and found a way in under an anchored, heavy duty tarp and through a gap between the hardware cloth on the roof and the top of the wall, 7 feet off the ground. We just finished the last of our fortifications last night by using screws and fender washers to secure hardware cloth to seal up that gap.

Hardware cloth is 1/2” or 1/4” wire mesh that comes in rolls—usually in 24”, 36”, or 48” widths. The longer the roll, the cheaper it is per linear foot, usually, so measure what you will need and look for pricing for the size of roll that will give you the best price for those measurements. I would price it at your local home improvement and farm/feed stores and online.

We have raccoons, opossums, foxes, hawks, owls, dogs, and cats here, so security is important for our ducks. Raccoons and opossums both can climb.

The picture below shows hardware cloth so you can see what it looks like. I actually now have another screen door guard grate over the side cleanout door and have attached 24” high welded wire fencing to pieces of 2x4 mounted on the outside bottom of the pen to keep my dogs from being able to claw the HWC. I used 1/4” HWC down low and 1/2” higher up.

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Omg omg I love your fortrese ! I am happy my three are safe this morning . Now I will be able to do my upgrades I am worried since I have three it’s not an even number if I am fixing to lose another one ...
 
I get paid tomorrow but I did take the thick canvas tarp and put it in side and out side all the way around and on top . I know it’s not perfecf but I am still sitting out here guarding them til tomorrow . I did leave all my yard lights on last night and tonight and nothing ever even crept up. Fingers crossed ! Thank y’all so much !
 
Duckworth said:
I’m sorry for your loss. We had a loss a few weeks ago to a raccoon that climbed our duck pen and found a way in under an anchored, heavy duty tarp and through a gap between the hardware cloth on the roof and the top of the wall, 7 feet off the ground. We just finished the last of our fortifications last night by using screws and fender washers to secure hardware cloth to seal up that gap.

Hardware cloth is 1/2” or 1/4” wire mesh that comes in rolls—usually in 24”, 36”, or 48” widths. The longer the roll, the cheaper it is per linear foot, usually, so measure what you will need and look for pricing for the size of roll that will give you the best price for those measurements. I would price it at your local home improvement and farm/feed stores and online.

We have raccoons, opossums, foxes, hawks, owls, dogs, and cats here, so security is important for our ducks. Raccoons and opossums both can climb.

The picture below shows hardware cloth so you can see what it looks like. I actually now have another screen door guard grate over the side cleanout door and have attached 24” high welded wire fencing to pieces of 2x4 mounted on the outside bottom of the pen to keep my dogs from being able to claw the HWC. I used 1/4” HWC down low and 1/2” higher up.
Click to expand...

@Bduckhappy , I'm so sorry for your loss :hit

@Duckworth , could you post a picture of your whole coop? We're starting ours this weekend and yours looks pretty interesting in that picture!
 
CountryFried said:
@Bduckhappy , I'm so sorry for your loss :hit

@Duckworth , could you post a picture of your whole coop? We're starting ours this weekend and yours looks pretty interesting in that picture!
Click to expand...

Since these pictures were taken, we finished covering every single opening, including the roof, with hardware cloth. The house and pen are built on a platform of pressure treated (and painted) exterior 3/4” plywood laid over 2x6 joists 24” apart and set on prefab concrete decking piers. The floor slopes slightly to the corner where the side cleanout door is located so water doesn’t pool up. The cleanout door is an easy place to rake or shove used bedding out of the pen for transfer to the garden or compost pile and helps with any hosing out I need to do.

The duck house is 4” higher than the pen so that water from the pen can’t run into the house. I insulated the walls, ceiling and floor of the house with pink foam board. The trim pieces keep animals from pulling at the edges of the HWC. The door trim overlaps the cracks around the doors. I have carabiner clips on all latches. The HWC is held in place by screws with fender washers. We are going to put a wood roof on the pen. There is one prefab glass window that cost me about $15, which is totally unnecessary, but when the weather is brutally cold, it allows me to cover more of the mesh windows without blocking out all of the light.

I built the house first and mounted it on the joists on piers. Then, I laid the piers and joists so they abutted the house at the lower height and installed the floor. Then, I framed the remainder of the wall that the duckhouse is part of. Next, I framed the opposite (taller) wall (with the main door) and raised it using some temporary cross braces. I calculated the slope, the cut the vertical studs for the side walls to match the angle and framed the sides before installing the rafters to support the roof. I figured it out as I went along, which is not the ideal, but I just had the plan in my head, so there was trial and error involved at every phase.
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