Is chicken wire ok for reducing my chain link opening? Updated

Going Quackers

Crowing
12 Years
May 24, 2011
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On, Canada
Ok, well you all scared me so all my ducks went in my horse trailer last night!
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odd yes, but it has ventilation and is big plus.. no racoon could get into it at all, my husband just hauled it up and put it near the run so we can easily carry them back to it for daytime forage.


So we after some lengthy discussion last night, concluded that the run should be ok for daytime.. the ducks are all muscovy and becoming larger as each week passes and the eventual intent was to leave them to 'free range' during the day and house them at night, so the run will reach a point of being useless... securing it more would be costly and a waste since that money should be spent on building them a proper duck house.

So now i need ideas and thoughts on building this duck house... we'll obviously use hardware cloth on this buidling's windows and it will need to be solid(high winds) and insulated since we get cold, long winters.. i'll post separately to inquire from other muscovy owners on there houses. I appreciate everyone's help on the kennel though.
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I equipped our duck pen with chicken wire up abouts 3ft from the bottom on the inside of my run... i just want to reduce my chain link dimentions so i don't get another 'snatch' .. and the ducks cannot get there heads through.. i also have covered my roof lattice with it, to make the holes covered.. the lattice is all screwed down to 2x8's... and then one half has another layer which is shade tarp.

I keep hearing chicken wire won't keep predators out but since i am really relying on the chain link and only using chicken wire as a 'reducer' i hope it's ok... we've worked all weekend reinforcing the pen since our attack..
 
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The chainlink will stop the critters from going thru the sides and the chicken wire will help slow them down but sorry, it won't stop them from ripping a hole and reaching thru. Do you have a secure top? What about a strong skirt? A coon will climb in the run before reaching thru cause it's easier and the birds are trapped inside.
 
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so it will just rip a hole through the chicken wire that is inside the coop ? what do i use then? my top is secure.. it's all lattice work screwed down to wood and then i have the chicken wire over top of that... the coon never got in only reached in because the chain link is too large an opening, so that is why we put the chicken wire on the inside to reduce the ability to reach in.
 
Look at it this way. Have you ever tried to outsmart squirrels from getting into your wild bird feeders? You will be humbled into realizing homo sapiens are not as smart as they think! A determined raccoon trying to get to your chicken coop is worse than those squirrels!! I have a six-foot chain link fence around my yard and can see where you are going with the chicken wire, but it will not faze the raccoon. You are better off with half-inch hardware cloth even though it costs more. Also, make sure the raccoon can not climb over the fence. Nature gave them that mask across their eyes to let everyone know they are master thieves!
 
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Agree with Bryan!!! I've heard of predators tearing poultry wire apart, but I had a raccoon or possium reach thru and rip apart a chicken and pull half of the body thru the wire without any damage to the poultry wire. In the pics you can see the feathers on the inside and outside and see the how the wire wasn't even really bent. I found half the body where you see the BR standing. On the other end of the run I had a RIR with it's head torn off and the body still on the inside leaning up against the wire and it's internal organs had all been removed thru the poultry wire.
 
That makes me so mad. I used to love raccoons because they have cute little faces and seem nice. I have heard so many stories of them slaughtering whole flocks of chickens and killing them like you just described. Now I hate those darn things!

I have 1/2" hardware cloth everywhere and it goes down into the ground 2 feet and a bit under the coop. Whenever I see raccoons now, I tell them to scat and growl at them.
 
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Lovely... we just bought all the chicken wire... and spend 2 days doing all this.
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it shouldn't be able to climb in since i have all the lattice work screwed down to wood 2X8's? it didn't get in last time and i have it done even stronger now, roof wise...

crud, i'll have to find out how i am going to be able to redo all this financially and physically...
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this is much harder than i expected it to be. Thanks for the input though.
 
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what an awful thing to find.
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because we have the chain link he only grabbed the duck... never got it out... nor did "he" get in... i had hoped the chicken wire would reduce the hole of the chain link thus keeping it from putting it's arms in at them again but clearly i am mistaken.
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Maybe get an electric wire to put around it or I've seen lots of different powder or liquid products to keep predators away, not sure if they work or if harmful to poultry. You can set traps, but you'll eventually get tired of catching and killing them and that will be a no win battle.
 
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Maybe get an electric wire to put around it or I've seen lots of different powder or liquid products to keep predators away, not sure if they work or if harmful to poultry. You can set traps, but you'll eventually get tired of catching and killing them and that will be a no win battle.

yeah trapping it would be a waste of time, i'm in the country... there will be another lol i just want to bang my head on a wall right now..
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so basically what i need to do is completely remove all the chicken wire and use hardware cloth instead? is the lattice roof covered in chicken wire enough or does it need stronger to?

no way can i redo all this by myself.. and my helpers are all at work... not to mention financially... cripes it maybe cheaper to just build a run then...
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