Question about sinking posts + buried wire.

[Manok-Tao]

Quote:
In all the posts I didn't see the question asked of where you are located and what are your potential predators (maybe I missed it). I guess though that about anywhere needs the same protection....
Ok, I'm building a new coop with attached run. The run will have typical pressure treated landscape timbers as posts. (the ones that are 8' in length and about 5-6" in diameter with two opposing sides sawed flat )(Lowe's: $2.50 ea)
I'll set them with concrete at 1-1/2 feet deep spaced 8' feet apart. That will leave 6'6" of the post above ground. Then I'm using old top poles from a chain-link fence, they are 12' long and 1-1/2 inch in diameter as top supports for the run's ceiling wire. I will clamp them down with long weather proof screws to the top of the posts from one to another (lengthwise and span-wise) using typical plumbing half round clamps (less than a buck each). This will raise the top of the runs wire roof another 1.5 inches giving a total inside height of 6'7-1/2". If your not going to hard-cover the run anything can be used for the top supports both length-wise and span-wise as long as it if stiff enough and weather resistant enough to last (again not sure where your from...so upper supports may need to be stronger for ice buildup on wire). Obviously the thickness of the upper supports add to the total inside height of the run. I'm 6'1 so I won't be stooping. I will attach the wire to these top posts using thick tie-wraps. Typical of what you've seen of the pixs posted here for supporting and attaching the wire (hardware cloth) to the sides...I will use 1x4x8 Pressure treated appearance board( lowe's $2.25 ) attached to the set posts at the bottom and mid point. My property backs up to a lot of woods with lots of potential invaders (fox, coon, possum, coyotes, skunk) so will be trenching between the set posts of the run 6-8 inches and burying hardware cloth between concrete footing of posts as well as a tied in buried skirt of the plastic stuff going out 18" to 2'...I'll sleep better that way.

 

[Uzuri]

You're right -- I don't think I said. Coons and dogs are my big issues (and hawks; but they're easily thwarted with a cover).

 

[Heathercp]

We installed the fence on our run yesterday in the soggy, half-frozen muck. It was NOT fun, but certainly doable. The posts were cemented in place last week at 2+ feet deep. We mix the concrete and shovel it in. I hold the level on the post while DH shovels the concrete. We've always mixed our concrete this way rather than pouring it in dry as I know some others do. Mixing concrete is pretty backbreaking - and I'm thankful to have a strong husband to do it for me. If I had to do it myself, I might try the pour it in dry and wait and see method.

DH started putting up the welded wire fence without me so I wouldn't have to stand around in the snow. Big mistake. Putting up welded wire is not something you want to do when it's freezing anyway, but we've got to get the coop done now, so freezing weather it is. It's really a job for two people. At any rate, my suggestion is: start at the back. Our chicken permit requires that we use 14 gauge wire to cover the run, so hardware cloth was out of the question. We used welded wire fencing with 2"x1" openings and will cover the bottom two feet with an additional layer of hardware cloth. If I'd had the choice, I would have preferred hardware cloth for the entire run. It would have been easier to work with. We attached the wire to our posts using a pneumatic stapler. The stapler cost $100, but the investment was well worth it.

Because the ground slopes quite a bit where we built our coop, we decided the easiest way for us to fence in the run would be to space our posts at 4' intervals and run 48" fencing vertically. We cut the wire about 6 inches longer than the distance from the bottom of the trench to the top of the run so that, when pushed into the trench, the wire would bend out away from the run at the bottom a bit. This helped hold it steady while shoveling the muck back into the trench. In our experience, it worked best to begin attaching the wire to one post, going from top to bottom about 2/3 of the way down. Then pull and attach on the other post from top to bottom while trying to pull it as straight as possible. Like I mentioned earlier, this is not going to be easy. Then we pushed the bottom section of wire into the trench, straightened it out and then finished stapling left and right. Finally, we pulled and stapled to the 2"x4" at the top of the section. (Our run is covered with wire as well.) This method gave us the best result. Unfortunately, come summer when the temperature rises, I expect that some of the fence panels may bulge a bit as the wire expands.

Whatever method you choose, I wish you luck.