New chicken keeper!

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

When you say "the bottom" do you mean the apron?

I have absolutely no clue what an apron is... I'm quite new to "real" chicken keeping! I am planning to take the chicken wire that came with the enclosure and secure it to the bottom, so predators will have more trouble digging under the enclosure. Will chicken wire hurt their feet or get stuck in their claws?

Do you have any fake eggs? If so put a few in the nesting boxes. This will entice them to lay where you want them to.

I have colorful plastic Easter eggs... will those work? Great idea.

 

[triciayoung]

I have absolutely no clue what an apron is... I'm quite new to "real" chicken keeping! I am planning to take the chicken wire that came with the enclosure and secure it to the bottom, so predators will have more trouble digging under the enclosure. Will chicken wire hurt their feet or get stuck in their claws?


I have colorful plastic Easter eggs... will those work? Great idea.

An apron is when you start the hardware cloth attached on the side of the coop or run and then run it continuously without cutting to the bottom and then out about two feet on the ground. The plastic easter eggs won't work.

 

[janiedoe]

I have absolutely no clue what an apron is... I'm quite new to "real" chicken keeping! I am planning to take the chicken wire that came with the enclosure and secure it to the bottom, so predators will have more trouble digging under the enclosure. Will chicken wire hurt their feet or get stuck in their claws?


I have colorful plastic Easter eggs... will those work? Great idea.

Yes. That is the apron. I'd recommend hardware cloth. The chicken wire will disintegrate quickly and may injure the chickens' feet.
Easter eggs, rock, anything egg shaped will work.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

Yes. That is the apron. I'd recommend hardware cloth. The chicken wire will disintegrate quickly and may injure the chickens' feet.
Easter eggs, rock, anything egg shaped will work.

Interesting. I thought hardware cloth would hurt their feet more as it is sharper. I guess this proves I'm a newbie!

I don't have enough hardware cloth to cover the entire run as it is. This is the link to the enclosure I ordered so you can see the picture. I have enough hardware cloth to cover the long sides, the top (the flat top AND the 45 degree parts of the roof), and the door, and a fabric roof covers 1/3 of the enclosure. I may also be able to cover the small rectangle on each side (the red area on this screenshot):

I was thinking to do chicken wire on the bottom of the enclosure and on the top trapezoids on each side because I am out of hardware cloth. I'm planning to finish on Saturday, and the hens are getting very restless in their tiny pen (and it's unsafe). Will chicken wire do, or will I need to do hardware cloth?

FYI, the most prevalent predators in my area are foxes, raccoons, and the neighbors' dogs if they escape. We also have a few big birds, one of which I believe snatched my little chick, Joyce, in 2021. The hardware cloth is also secured to the poles or overlapping pieces with hundreds of cable zip ties.

 

[janiedoe]

Interesting. I thought hardware cloth would hurt their feet more as it is sharper. I guess this proves I'm a newbie!

I don't have enough hardware cloth to cover the entire run as it is. This is the link to the enclosure I ordered so you can see the picture. I have enough hardware cloth to cover the long sides, the top (the flat top AND the 45 degree parts of the roof), and the door, and a fabric roof covers 1/3 of the enclosure. I may also be able to cover the small rectangle on each side (the red area on this screenshot):
View attachment 3465885
I was thinking to do chicken wire on the bottom of the enclosure and on the top trapezoids on each side because I am out of hardware cloth. I'm planning to finish on Saturday, and the hens are getting very restless in their tiny pen (and it's unsafe). Will chicken wire do, or will I need to do hardware cloth?

FYI, the most prevalent predators in my area are foxes, raccoons, and the neighbors' dogs if they escape. We also have a few big birds, one of which I believe snatched my little chick, Joyce, in 2021. The hardware cloth is also secured to the poles or overlapping pieces with hundreds of cable zip ties.

The apron should be on the outside of the pen, on the ground, completely surrounding it. I would definitely cover top to bottom with hardware cloth.
Do you have a plan to cover the gaps around the door?
One of my runs is a dog kennel. I ended up building a wooden frame for the doorway to prevent rodents, skunks, snakes etc from getting in.
Until you get enough hc cover the bottom portion at least. You can use chickenwire around the top and for the apron, and replace it when you get the hc.
I'd replace it as soon as possible.
As far as the dogs, you may need some hotwire if your kennel isn't heavy duty. One of mine chewed through the hardware cloth once. Fortunately he was a big boy and couldn't get through the hole he made.

 

[Kuritsa y Utochka]

The apron should be on the outside of the pen, on the ground, completely surrounding it. I would definitely cover top to bottom with hardware cloth.
Do you have a plan to cover the gaps around the door?
One of my runs is a dog kennel. I ended up building a wooden frame for the doorway to prevent rodents, skunks, snakes etc from getting in.
Until you get enough hc cover the bottom portion at least. You can use chickenwire around the top and for the apron, and replace it when you get the hc.
I'd replace it as soon as possible.
As far as the dogs, you may need some hotwire if your kennel isn't heavy duty. One of mine chewed through the hardware cloth once. Fortunately he was a big boy and couldn't get through the hole he made.

Our hardware cloth has 1/2-inch gauges and seems very sturdy (we could barely bend it around the edges of the enclosure, even with three people pulling). We also made sure to leave the sharp edges touching the ground after cutting them with the wire cutters so any animal trying to get under would have a good chance of cutting themselves (I cut myself a few times, and it hurts!).

I've uploaded some pictures of what I've done so far. My husband will be back home from business travel on Saturday, and we will finish building the enclosure (including the strip of hardware cloth that is hanging and not secured).

And I couldn't help but upload some pictures of my girls as well. They are starting to trust me more, a couple let me hold and pet them. They will eat out of my hand but peck me as well. I also let them out one by one for a little while each day, so they can have some more space for a few minutes. They've been getting a bit antsy lately, but hopefully less once they're moved to their new enclosure.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Welcome to the coop! I use the Forums and Articles tabs at the top of the page to do research. You can get lost for hours. It's nice to know you are minutes away from getting help with questions and emergencies! I always check in the "What's New" section as well at the top of this page. This way I can read how I may have a similar question or help give some advice.