Logistics - is a fully enclosed run necessary?

[progressivehomesteader]

I have a coop without a run so we are constructing one ourselves. In our area (Long Island NY) there are lots of predators--raptors, racoons, possums, fox, etc.

My assumption is that hawks are the only thing I am worried about during daylight hours. If that is a good assumption, I feel like I do not need to wrap the run on the bottom with hardware cloth. Just the sides and top. The birds will get closed in their coop at night.

If I am wrong and the other predators pose a real risk in daylight, then I should wrap it in hardware cloth...right? Is it best to just wrap it anyway?

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. The foxes here usually come at dusk, during the night, or at dawn, but in the last Month, for the first time in 15 years, I've seen them in broad daylight!

Where do you live?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm in New Hampshire, so we probably have similar types of wildlife. I've seen foxes hunting next to my chicken pen during the day. I used 6-inch heavy duty landscaping staples to attach a 24" hardware cloth skirt around the entire run. Most of it is covered with a garden box, decorative rocks, and weeds. It gives me peace of mind.

 

[Sefirothe]

I’m in northeastern Pennsylvania. In town, tho sorta close to the edge.

We also see domestic feral cats, stray dogs, skunks, possums, foxes, raccoons on the camera and hear coyotes at night.

 

[perkolator]

Sure you can do that. Might be ok for a while, even years perhaps - but that first time you go outside and feel the heartbreak when you see feathers everywhere and your favorite chickens dead or missing, you'll wish you just spent another $100-500 in whatever materials and invested another day of labor, to make things fully secured.

My 2nd run was fine for about 2yrs without overhead protection. Now it's fully secured. Known predators that got over the top were a great horn owl and bobcat

 

[StinkyAcres]

Foxes and bobcat absolutely hunt during the day, especially when they are feeding kits.

If you're thinking of covering the entire floor of the run with hardware cloth, don't do it. Chickens dig so could hurt their feet and galvanized hardware cloth rusts making it more dangerous and removing it a nightmare.

Go with a skirt around the outside instead and/or a strand or two of electric fencing. You don't need to dig down for the skirt. It can lay on the ground covered in dirt, mulch, or fine gravel, or you can let the grass grow through it.

 

[ChaosMom]

I have a coop without a run so we are constructing one ourselves. In our area (Long Island NY) there are lots of predators--raptors, racoons, possums, fox, etc.

My assumption is that hawks are the only thing I am worried about during daylight hours. If that is a good assumption, I feel like I do not need to wrap the run on the bottom with hardware cloth. Just the sides and top. The birds will get closed in their coop at night.

If I am wrong and the other predators pose a real risk in daylight, then I should wrap it in hardware cloth...right? Is it best to just wrap it anyway?

Just to answer your thread title: yes, sides and top, plus an apron on the outside on the ground.

 

[NewcoopNewpoop]

I dont have much experience, but I think its really up to the individual and how much you are willing to risk.
I have 4 hens in a fenced in area on the side of my house with no overhead protection. They get locked in their coop promptly at dusk and 99% of the time they are directly supervised when freeranging. We are in ky and have allll the predators plus errant dogs.
I am comfortable with this level of risk because I know my hens enjoy the extra space and freedom, and so do I.

I have browsed this board a lot and what I have seen is.... a chicken is never safe. Do all the fencing and skirting and electrifying you want, but a hungry animal will find the smallest weakness and exploit it. If not a raccoon or fox, it'll be a mink or a snake. If not that, it'll be an accident. If not that, it'll be a disease or a member of their own flock scalping, spurring, or plucking them.

If you are a one in a million owner it will be none of the above. But everything eats a chicken, and they are very prone to tragedy. Thats just my opinion. Do what you think is right.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I dont have much experience, but I think its really up to the individual and how much you are willing to risk.
I have 4 hens in a fenced in area on the side of my house with no overhead protection. They get locked in their coop promptly at dusk and 99% of the time they are directly supervised when freeranging. We are in ky and have allll the predators plus errant dogs.
I am comfortable with this level of risk because I know my hens enjoy the extra space and freedom, and so do I.

I have browsed this board a lot and what I have seen is.... a chicken is never safe. Do all the fencing and skirting and electrifying you want, but a hungry animal will find the smallest weakness and exploit it. If not a raccoon or fox, it'll be a mink or a snake. If not that, it'll be an accident. If not that, it'll be a disease or a member of their own flock scalping, spurring, or plucking them.

If you are a one in a million owner it will be none of the above. But everything eats a chicken, and they are very prone to tragedy. Thats just my opinion. Do what you think is right.

Very true. Chickens are prey animals. There is only so much we can do to protect them while also making sure they are happy and healthy.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Everything eats a chicken, and they are very prone to tragedy. Thats just my opinion. Do what you think is right.

From my perspective it looks like the average chicken owner keeps sickly breeds in unnatural, micromanaged conditions that create the perfect recipe for tragedy

I've heard countless stories about feral dogs killing entire flocks. Well I've had eight feral dogs attack over the years and not once did they touch a single chicken. The chickens just... flew away

I suspect the people having chickens die to stray dogs have them trapped somewhere with zero escape routes (ie a coop or small fenced in area) and possibly clipped wings as well. It's a man-made tragedy

If one has healthy breeds and doesn't trap them somewhere they're pretty good at keeping themselves alive