Predator proofing run - bury hardware cloth or extend it out two feet?

[mike001]

Hi all,

I am about to finish off my run. I live in a place with very rocky soil and I have a 15x15 run. To dig a 1' trench around the run would break my back, every swing of the pick/shovel hits a rock. To plant a tree I dig out about 10 or more large rocks. I was reading something online that says you can either bury the fence 1' down or extended it 2' out from the edge, the idea being that anything that tries to dig under will hit wire and stop.

I was thinking of removing the turf, extending the hardware cloth 2' and then putting the turf on top of it. Then anything that wanted to dig under it would have a)figure out to move 2' back and then dig through 2' of rocks.

Do you think that would be okay?

 

[RedDrgn]

Should be, yeah. Other than a human being, nothing looking for a meal is going to think about walking 2.5 feet away from your fence to begin tunneling to get under it. So slipping a fence under your turf should do the trick.

Also, I sympathize with regards to your soil. Same deal here, but with where we built our run and how we integrated against our house,extending it would've been an even bigger pain.

 

[mike001]

Thanks. I was afraid someone would say, "No! Don't do that! I did that last year and twenty five racoons and a warthog got in the first night, ate all my chickens and ate all the chickens I was going to order over the next ten years."

It would take me an hour to get into the run once I'm done.

 

[Lollipop]

Unless you already have the hardware cloth, why not use something a little less expensive. Any wire heavier than chicken wire will keep predators from digging in. The 1/2 inch stuff is overkill. Think about it. Chickens can see a predator during the daylight hours and stay out of reach. At night, most folks lock fowl in a coop and predators can't get in there. The idea to lay the wire under the sod next to the run is a good one. It will save a lot of sweat. Good luck......Pop

 

[SacCityChickens]

I layed hardware wire 18" all around, layed out flat, & covered with 2" of DG(decomposd granite) I haven't seen the wire since.
Good luck
SCC

 

[confusedbanti]

I used hardware cloth 2' wide on the outside the run all around. The is no digging .

 

[brndn0515]

Ive been thinking about buring it vertically as well sounds like i may be trying this horizontal method now. Work smarter not harder, right.

 

[Jaxon4141]

Ive been thinking about buring it vertically as well sounds like i may be trying this horizontal method now. Work smarter not harder, right.

Having fencing going horizontal is a better barrier than burying fencing vertical. Large predators like dogs and foxes can dig down a foot in no time at all. So yes, work smarter no harder

 

[nh104]

Being from connecticut i fully understand about your rock vs. shovel concerns. I dug out a 3" deep trench that extended out 15 - 18". I layed hardware cloth in and backfilled. Afterwards i am placing 12x12" patio pavers on top of that for extra security. the pavers are fairly heavy and over doing security cant be a bad thing.

I figure that most animals wont even bother to try digging that far away from the coop.

 

[floridagramps]

we built our run to sit atop 4x6 pressure treated timbers underneath which we laid hardware cloth extending outward 18 inches.........see pics on big cyg members page this forum