My dog got into my coop!

[annaraven]

Hardware cloth (1/2") is what you need. Wrap it right around the chicken wire and attach it to the posts. Make sure you have it underneath the ground as well(rats) and overhead as well (hawks).

Chicken wire won't even keep the chickens in/out - I had mine get into my garden that was "protected" by chicken wire.

Once you have a safe run, you can put the henhouse inside the run and they'll be safe.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Totally agree! Leave the chicken wire (I'd HATE to have to remove all of that) and just use a sturdier wire OVER that - 2x4 welded wire is great and is much cheaper than HW cloth. I also agree that vertical supports (at least at the halfway points) would beef it up quite a bit too. Besides, I think in a year or so, those long horizontal boards will begin to sag if you don't support a bit more...

 

[sgoff]

Had a possum navigate through an itty bitty fold in the chicken wire i used at the very top (nearly 15 feet up) of the run. my run is under a lean-to attached to our barn. I would never have believed it until I saw it actually escaping through that fold. Wiped out half of my pullets. They will find any weakness in your system.... My hens are all locked up nightly in a plywood coop with hardware cloth now. No more problems.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you stop your dog from going through the wire, he might start digging to get in. I'd also add a wire apron around the edge of the run, to prevent your dog from digging into it. It will keep other predators from digging in, too. It's easier to do than burying wire. Usually 12"-18" is enough. It just lays on top of the ground. The grass can grow through it and you won't even notice it later. Just use some landscape fabric pins to tack down the outside edge, to keep it flat, if you need to. Or you could weight it down with something. The inside edge should be firmly attached to the run.

 

[Steadfast]

Quote:
Use "Hog Clips"!
These things are STRONG!
They can bind any wire fencing together in a flash!

You can get the pliars/tool and the clips at any agri supply...
best of all...THEY ARE CHEAP!

Tool: $3
Clips: a bag full of hundreds of them $4

 

[kla37]

Quote:
Ditto on the hardware cloth. Don't waste your time with chicken wire!

 

[Steadfast]

Quote:
Yes! That is what we did...
We put out a foot long wire skirt, attache too and sweeping out away from the wall.
Then we covered it with "crush and run" gravel ($20 a pickup truck load.)
to make digging thru, an exponentially worse pain in the butt, for our local preditors!

Here, look at this photo. check out the bottom left corner of it.
You can see where we ran out of crush and run, and where the wire skirt continues. (had to get more gravel the next day)

And it looks good too!
not my butt... the gravel... (Well, maybe my butt does too, but that's your call.)

 

[Zonoma]

I'm using "Horse Fence" wire (12 1/2 gauge, spacing is 2 inches tall and 1 inch wide- it comes in various heights up to and including 6 ft tall) after a friend who lives in predator country started using it and stopped losing chickens. TSC sells it in 100 ft rolls. You still need to either (a) dig it down into the ground a few inches or (b) line the bottom with dug in stones so that nothing can dig under your fence and into your run.

Amazing what you learn after only a little while on these boards!