New to the country life, and new to chicken owning!

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. It sounds like you have done a good job predator proofing your coop and it should be safe (as long as you don't have bears). I have anchored hardware cloth down before with closely placed fencing staples and never had a raccoon or any other predator pull them loose, but some chicken owners say that it has happened with them, so for peace of mind, ChickenCanoe's suggestion of covering the edges of hardware cloth with either siding or metal strapping and attached it with screws is probably a good idea. Good luck with your flock.

 

[jennfurtrombly]

Welcome! Honestly, it all depends on location and your situation. A rat will chew through wood siding. There's a host of critters that can tunnel in, and raccoons, opossums and foxes can certainly find their way through ill-secured hardware cloth. I am new to the country as well (just over a year) and just this spring we started with chickens. I haven't any any predator issues. My chickens are in a pretty large uncovered run during the day with plenty of places to run under and hide (their coop is elevated and I have a couple of shade. Our fence is pretty secure, but my chickens roost inside a completely secured coop that's elevated off the ground at night, which eliminates a lot of predator problems.

Unfortunately, after making sure your coop is secure as can be, it's trial and error. Hopefully you won't have any problems either!

 

[gander007]