Hi all
I’m new to chickens and building a coop. Stuff I’ve found online tells me that to deter digging predators I should lay a 2’ wide apron of 14ga welded wire fence around the coop and run. But the 2”x3” mesh will let rats and mice in, and I’m a bit paranoid about that.
So I was thinking of a few options, have been scouring the internet (including these forums), and have partial but not complete answers. I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts.
(A) I could double up and also lay on the ground an apron of 1/4” hardware cloth along with the 14ga wire...or maybe even replacing the thicker wire altogether. I’d probably use stainless steel HWC—expensive but longer lasting on/in the ground?
(B) Some answers I’ve seen suggesting burying the apron since a predator—and especially a rat—would just dig at the visible edge of the apron and then tunnel across and up into the coop/run. So in option(B) I would bury the apron maybe 2’ deep and then I’d have to run it vertically as well and attach to the structure, forming an L shape underground. But this means digging a 2’ wide and 2’ deep trench all around the coop/run—a pain.
(c) in this option, maybe I’d leave the thick wire apron on the surface outside to prevent foxes/raccoons, and to stop rats/mice I’d lay HWC on the ground inside the run. Maybe, to protect the chickens feet and stop rodents from biting them through the mesh, I’d bury the HWC a few inches. No trench digging—just a bit of surface digging in the run itself.
(D) in this option I’d have a buried L of HWC plus 14ga wire on the outside of the run AND I’d run a HWC bottom buried a few inches under the run. Overkill, but two layers of defense.
THOUGHTS? I’m leaning toward (C) but most everyone talks about an apron or possibly a vertical buried fence...hardlyanyone seems to discuss laying a mesh floor under the run itself
THANKYOU!
I’m new to chickens and building a coop. Stuff I’ve found online tells me that to deter digging predators I should lay a 2’ wide apron of 14ga welded wire fence around the coop and run. But the 2”x3” mesh will let rats and mice in, and I’m a bit paranoid about that.
So I was thinking of a few options, have been scouring the internet (including these forums), and have partial but not complete answers. I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts.
(A) I could double up and also lay on the ground an apron of 1/4” hardware cloth along with the 14ga wire...or maybe even replacing the thicker wire altogether. I’d probably use stainless steel HWC—expensive but longer lasting on/in the ground?
(B) Some answers I’ve seen suggesting burying the apron since a predator—and especially a rat—would just dig at the visible edge of the apron and then tunnel across and up into the coop/run. So in option(B) I would bury the apron maybe 2’ deep and then I’d have to run it vertically as well and attach to the structure, forming an L shape underground. But this means digging a 2’ wide and 2’ deep trench all around the coop/run—a pain.
(c) in this option, maybe I’d leave the thick wire apron on the surface outside to prevent foxes/raccoons, and to stop rats/mice I’d lay HWC on the ground inside the run. Maybe, to protect the chickens feet and stop rodents from biting them through the mesh, I’d bury the HWC a few inches. No trench digging—just a bit of surface digging in the run itself.
(D) in this option I’d have a buried L of HWC plus 14ga wire on the outside of the run AND I’d run a HWC bottom buried a few inches under the run. Overkill, but two layers of defense.
THOUGHTS? I’m leaning toward (C) but most everyone talks about an apron or possibly a vertical buried fence...hardlyanyone seems to discuss laying a mesh floor under the run itself
THANKYOU!
