Predator proof coop

[bgeyer]

My husband constructed me a coop. We used chicken wire at the fencing but I heard that isn't safe. What should I used? If I pile rocks along the bottom will the be sufficient to keep the predators out? Tips please!!!

 

[Gittx]

I live in the country so use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. I have read many articles saying that racoons, and dogs, etc, etc can reach through chicken wire and grab a chicken. A couple of months my dog pulled the leg off of one of my chickes, I had been keeping in the utility room until I finished a coop. The chick was in a large dog pen with hardware cloth all around it. The only thing I can think of, as to why it happened, was that the chick must have stretch and extended her leg out of the crack where the door is hinged. The dog just happened to be there to grab it. I simply couldn't believe it happened, the crack couldn't have been over 1 inch wide. So...I am all for erroring on the side of tiny holes over big ones in any wire to contain our little feathered friends.