Lattice for a Run or no?

[pippilotta356]

Thanks! I've got hardware cloth all the way under the coop, but the for the run I was just thinking of using lattice as an enclosure because hardware cloth is so expensive. As far as predators go, raccoons and the odd eagle are probably the biggest threat. Since the raccoons usually only come at night, I'm assuming it would be pretty safe. What did you use for your run? Or are your chickens free-range?

 

[bdjh]

Mine are a little of both.....we generally let then free-roam if we're home, but will herd them back into their run if we go out. They're locked up tight in their coop at night, too.

For my run, I used a product I found at Home Depot....it's a strong plastic version of hardware cloth. It seems to be doing the job. It was about half the price of wire, but If I hadn't found the stuff I used, I'd have just gone with hardware cloth.

 

[Blooie]

I use lattice, but for two reasons and neither of them are to protect the chickens. It simply won't. The first reason is because my coop and run are visible from the street and we live in town. I didn't want an eyesore sitting in my yard. The second is to protect the clear plastic we put on for winter from the pokey-outy things where the chicken wire and hardware cloth is wired to the cattle panel frame.

Our run is a hoop run - cattle panels arched between fence posts pounded into the ground. The cattle panels are covered with chicken wire to discourage overhead predators and to keep small birds out of the run. Then we ran a hardware cloth skirt around the bottom 2 feet of the run, folded it outward at the bottom about 2 feet and secured with landscape fabric staples. So my advice is to make your run as secure as you can, then if you want to use lattice use it for enhancement. It just isn't designed for anything else. And think "mouse". Lattice isn't going to keep them out, either, but hardware cloth behind it will.


Our setup in the summer.


And lattice added over the top of the arch to support clear plastic to keep the run dry and warmer in winter, sort of like a greenhouse.