Making a Horse Stall Digger Proof (Pleasant problem)

[DigitalEd]

Hey all,
I have the pleasant dilemma of needing to expand. I've a 9x12 horse stall that I'm looking to convert to a coop. I've got the modifications figured out except for the best way to stop predators from getting in at the bottom.




You can see the gap under the door that opens to the outside. That entire wall and most of the other walls don't make contact with the ground.

I've got two ideas but am hoping for some more.
1) Bury hardware cloth 6inches deep all the way around.
2) Make a hardware cloth floor that folds up along the edges and attach it to the bottom of the walls. This makes essentially a big hardware cloth bowl.

For #2, I'd put a few inches of dirt on top and then lay down pine shavings and straw, etc.
#1 is a fair bit of work.

Thoughts or suggestions?

----- Ed

 

[mnferalkitty]

I wood get a railroad tie or similar type piece of wood and bury it part way, so you would have to step over it to get in the stall, that would be easy enough

 

[chfite]

Fasten some wire fencing to the walls at the bottom and let it extend out 18 - 24 inches to prevent digging. Lay some fencing in the walkway through the door, and pin it to the ground with some spikes. Tack something to the bottom of the door to close the gap between it and the ground.

Chris

 

[Dutch552]

Your stall looks a lot like our barn that we house chickens in 2 of the stalls. We went the hardware cloth route for a couple of years but it is expensive and ends up rusting or getting all bent up after a period of time in a high traffic barn like ours. We eventually formed up a 12"x12" concrete pad around all four interior sides of the coop level with the lower edge of the stall walls. Much neater, predator proof and is easier to clean. I figured that we will break even with money if we don't have to replace hardware cloth on an ongoing basis. The flush concrete pad is also unobtrusive if you ever wanted to use the stall for horses or other livestock.