Nailing field fence wire around the lower half of a coop?

[ohb]

I just completed a standard 8x8 shed type coop and I have the little ones inside it. The walls are your basic plywood. I bought a 13x7 chain link kennel to serve as the run but it isn't up yet. I did not intend to fence in the whole coop. However, some dogs have already gnawed a hole in the corner of the coop trying to get in. One is a stray I can kill if I can get a clear shot (we live in the country with no humane shelter as an option for strays). The other is a neighbor's lab mix.

My question is: has anyone ever nailed field fence around the bottom half of a coop to deter the chewing of the corners? How well did it work? I can also put up a solar powered fencer and hot-wire the coop if necessary but I am wondering about the field fence solution. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bizzybirdy]

I would go ahead and put smaller welded wire around the bottom half of the coop. That way you would preven other smaller varmints from gnawing into it too. Field fencing has pretty large spacing.

Good idea though. Maybe I will add that to my chickens' fortress...er house, er coop.

 

[Lavonne]

I just added chicken wire around the bottom of my no climb fence. My five week old chicks were able to squeeze through. I used zip ties to connect it to the other wires and those u-type nails connected it to the posts. It seems to work well so far.

 

[ChickenCat]

Yes,nailing fence wiring around the base will definitely stop the critter from chewing thru. That sounds like a very hunger critter that may start digging under the wire and come up underneath though.. I believe I'd string electric fence around and set a big trap to try and catch it.

 

[jwchicklady]

I have chicken wire surrounding the bottom of my coop and it fans out about 12 inches and is covered with dirt to discourage digging critters. You can also cover it with cement to prevent digging, but I am not sure how it works in discouraging chewers.

 

[ohb]

FYI
I went with 1" x 48" wide welded wire around the bottom. It was a lot of fun to nail on in 90 degree heat.

It looks pretty good and I believe it will do the trick against stray dogs (my main problem). I may still pop for a solar powered fencer and hot-wire the base of the coop just to show 'em I mean business. Any guesses who'll be the first human to get lit up by touching it?

I'll put the chain like kennel together this weekend for the run and attach some chicken wire around the base of it to keep the birds in and to discourage digging. I'll let you know how it all works out.

It's funny, three weeks ago it was going to be a simple shed and kennel. No muss, no fuss. Now, I think it's approaching critical mass.

 

[ohb]

This is the third day and I think I have, for now, thrown the dogs for a loop. There are no further signs of attempts to enter the coop via chewing. As a matter of fact they are pretty much ignoring the coop now. Either they've given up or they're formulating a new battle plan.

But so far, so good.