Logistics - is a fully enclosed run necessary?

[Whaler]

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.

Now that sounds like great advice....

 

[StinkyAcres]

Thanks everyone for your perspectives and experience. Some locals here have warned that if you do not enclose the run in hardware cloth that predators will dig, so I don't know if an apron is going to be sufficient. We'll have to cover with pine shavings to protect their feet. And while I cannot depend on free ranging consistently due to personal constraints, we do have a portable run that will act as a tractor here and there when we are outside and can be on the watch for and scare off raptors and daytime predators. And we may try free ranging after our property gets a proper fence.

Thank you all again for the feedback! happy to hear more

I'm sorry, but pine shavings will not protect their feet. Like I said, chickens dig, and they can dig big holes if they wanted, almost as deep as they are tall. If you insist on covering the floor with hardware cloth maybe bury it a foot deep, cover with pavers, then place dirt and run litter on top.