New Coop, must haves?

[grimhope]

I live in the mountains above Golden, Co at 7300 feet. We have a pretty large old shed that we've cleared out and want to start a coop. I've been reading about coops and what to do and what not to do and I now have so much information my head is spinning! I hope it's ok to ask a few questions and straighten myself out.

We'll have 6 hens.
We have predators from mountain lions and bears down to foxes and rats.
Hot in the summer, cold and snowy in the winter.


The run. One side has a big wooden fence and the rest needs building. I have room for a good size run but we'll probably keep it reasonable.
1. Is hardware cloth the best for keeping predators out? Is that what's necessary?
2. I read about aproning the bottom on the sides but I'm not sure how to do that on our rocky mountainous land.
3. How far up does the hardware cloth go?
4. Is the wood fence ok? Cover it with wire fencing?

The coop - no ventilation yet. No leaks and it's good and sturdy.
My question - Two windows, high up for ventilation? Maybe 3?

Thank you!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Hi there!

I understand you concerns! I live in Estes CO. I'm sorry but I'm not much help as far as building goes. Hopefully someone smart can help you

 

[RJSorensen]

You will want one-half inch hardware cloth for sure. That is the only thing that might work where you are. Your varmints are bigger than most people have to deal with, so my vote is to use it. As to the L apron on the bottom of the fence, I would suggest that you lay out an attached 18 inch strip above ground and then covered with whatever dirt and or rocks you have to use. On my new coop I have this concept, but I just let the lawn grass grow through it. I did not dig down. The good news here is if you can not dig down, perhaps neither can your varmints.

As to the height of your run fence, it can be whatever you wish. Mine is about seven foot, so as I can stand in it with my hat on. It only needs be a height that will work for you. I don't see enough information on the wood fence to comment. Is it slatted or solid, how tall, made of what?

Remember you want to keep things out a lot more than keep the chickens in. There is a ventilation page here on BYC that has all of the information you will need to know about such things. Again I can't see the windows nor the size. Common sense will work for you in sizing your run and other.

I am 3000 feet lower and don't have bear and such, so keep that in mind as you design and build.

Best of luck in your choices for your birds,

RJ

 

[grimhope]

Thank you neighbor!

 

[grimhope]

RJ, this is excellent information, thank you very much.

 

[6of6chicks]

I remember seeing this coop when I was building mine. It has a great picture that shows "aproning" (scroll almost all the way to the bottom).

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/gallo-del-cielos-chicken-coop

I put my run under an oak tree, so when I did the apron I immediately ran into roots. I didn't want to disturb my tree by digging them out, so I just wrapped the hardware cloth around the big roots. I figure if I didn't want to cut through it then nothing else will want to gnaw/dig through it either. I don't know about rocky land (?) - but other folks have suggested soaking the area for a few days beforehand to make the digging easier.

I've read a lot of posts about wooden fencing - and I've read a lot of posts about things that went right through a wooden fence. If it were me I'd do a combo - wooden fence + some sort of wire (like chain link or cattle panels). I go overboard, though, so others might disagree

. But I second the hardware cloth. It's a pain to work with, so while you're putting some up you might as well put it everywhere. Better safe than sorry.

Hope that's helpful and good luck!

 

[Folly's place]

I don't have bears or cougars here (yet) but I hear that electric fencing is the only real deterent for bears. Otherwise, hardware cloth well attached, maybe with welded wire fencing also. Lots of windows for ventilation, maybe small enough that those bears can't squeeze through? Cold is not a serious a problem as heat and humidity. Mary

 

[MamaChicken4]

I have tons of predators in my area. My husband and I converted on old shed into a chicken coop. For the chicken run we are building right now we framed in a large area and used 1x2 ince metal horse fencing all around the bottom. We bent it outward so that over a foot of it was laying on the ground and about 4 feet went up the sides of the run. This deters the beasts from digging. Then we covered that and the rest of the framing in chicken wire. It's really secure and it looks like fort knocks for our babies. We are also going to cover the top of it with bird netting or more wire to deter the owls and hawks we have. Hope that helps a little.