Predator Proofing

[ChickensNCoffee]

I'm new to chickens so I'm not sure if this is 100% but this is the skirt/apron method an old farmer told me. I didn't want to bury mine so I laid out hard wire cloth (it super think with tiny 1/4 in squares) and used stakes to hold it down. This roll is 2 foot wide. I have about 6 inches inside the coop area and about 18 inches hanging out. So a predator is going to have to dig 2 ft to get to my girls. Hopefully this works. Eventually the grass will grow through it and you can mow over it and it will be hidden.

 

[NBwriter]

I'm new to chickens so I'm not sure if this is 100% but this is the skirt/apron method an old farmer told me. I didn't want to bury mine so I laid out hard wire cloth (it super think with tiny 1/4 in squares) and used stakes to hold it down. This roll is 2 foot wide. I have about 6 inches inside the coop area and about 18 inches hanging out. So a predator is going to have to dig 2 ft to get to my girls. Hopefully this works. Eventually the grass will grow through it and you can mow over it and it will be hidden.

That's pretty much the same thing I did a few weeks ago, but added a few inches of dirt shoveled on top, plus river rock stones for drainage. I bought 12" nailhead spikes and pounded them at 6" intervals around the perimeter to hold everything in place. So far so good! About to do the same thing for the run extension we're building.

 

[ChickensNCoffee]

Awesome! We are torn between a run with normal chicken wire fencing and bird net covering. The girls would run around it during the day only. Or if we should make everything enclosed.

 

[NBwriter]

Awesome! We are torn between a run with normal chicken wire fencing and bird net covering. The girls would run around it during the day only. Or if we should make everything enclosed.

I guess it depends on the predator profile of your area.... Do you have a lot of swooping birds? We back up to a lot of land, and in addition to coyote/fisher cats/ raccoons there are a lot of hawks/owls, so we knew we had to cover from above. We probably could have gotten away without ground-skirting the extended run if they're only going to be out there during the day, but decided to play it safe as long as we're building from scratch anyway.

 

[BruceAZ]

it will depend on your area

for my area chickens wire would have been fine.. since my dog doesn't care much for the chickens.. i thought the neighbor cats will be a problem (maybe for baby chicks) but grown chickens are fine..

other than those those i don't have any other things to worry about.. we have 6ft concrete wall around the houses here.. so

hardware cloth is about 2x the price for half the size of chicken wire.. so just pick what is ideal for your area

home depot has hardware cloth for $54 for a roll of 4'x25'

so this place is a lot cheaper 2x the size for just $3 more
https://www.amazon.com/Gilbert-Benn...dware cloth&qid=1463965345&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

**actually scratch that.. the price went up !! it's $64 now.. :?

 

[sadcom]

Awesome! We are torn between a run with normal chicken wire fencing and bird net covering. The girls would run around it during the day only. Or if we should make everything enclosed.

Can raccoons climb over the wire mesh fence and tear through the bird net covering?

 

[bobbi-j]

Can raccoons climb over the wire mesh fence and tear through the bird net covering?

Oh yeah! They can definitely climb the fence. I can't imagine that the bird net would slow them down much. I have 2x4" welded wire over the top of my run. The netting is better than nothing, though. Hopefully someone who uses it can better inform you as to if it would deter them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Can raccoons climb over the wire mesh fence and tear through the bird net covering?

If they can climb a sheer wall and descend a tree head first (which they can), they can climb a wire mesh fence.
Not only can they tear through bird netting, they can shred chicken wire. They are extremely strong and dexterous.

If there's any doubt about their climbing ability.

or their strength or ability to squeeze through tiny openings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRgiG7HY5Q

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hmm, I am trying to visualize this. Say you have a perimeter fence you don't want anyone digging under. Do you unroll a roll of hardware cloth out flat on the ground, around at the base of the fence? Then bend a 3" edge down into the earth at bottom of fence? So it is horizontal except for the vertical 3" sunk into the ground?

That would be much easier than digging down 3'.

I was also considering getting a 1' roll of galvanized roof flashing and tapping it down vertically into the ground around the perimeter. It would probably only work in softer dirt. But your idea sounds easier!

Thanks!
Anne

The three inch part should run upwards and be attached to the vertical walls of the coop and wired into it. A garden tiller is great for digging up the ground outside the coop instead of trying to burry the apron. Then as the new grass comes in the wire apron is in effect burred.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If they can climb a sheer wall and descend a tree head first (which they can), they can climb a wire mesh fence.
Not only can they tear through bird netting, they can shred chicken wire. They are extremely strong and dexterous.

If there's any doubt about their climbing ability.

or their strength or ability to squeeze through tiny openings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRgiG7HY5Q

CC is quite right and if a large boar coon (say 35 lbs) has a 50 pound coon dog at a disadvantage (in deep water) then the coon is more than capable of drowning the dog and walking away.

Also more than a few posters have remarked about how a coon trapped in one of those "Have A Heart" traps have ripped the very heart out of the trap and walked away none the orst for being trapped but well educated in the art of destroying things made from wire.

I seriously doubt that when Walt Disney created Bambi that Walt was a chicken farmer.