raccoon proof run

[rockbottompottery]

Me and my husband are rebuilding our coop and at the same time fully enclosing part of the run. It's not going to be a large area but I do want to make sure the Chickens are fully safe from raccoons. Our neighbor across the street lost all their chickens about 5 months ago to racoons and I have seen them around.

SO, my question is this... what is the best way to proof the fence?? should we bury part of the wire into the ground encase they dig and how far down should I go??

thanks very much for any help

OH, I'm using 2"x 4" welded wire fencing. 4'X50'

Lindsay

 

[florida lee]

raccoons are very clever and strong.....I would be worried about 2x4 wire ( 2" x 4" right?), they can get their little "hands" thru that and grab the chix. I used hardware cloth with the 1/2" squares and double latches on all door and accesses. Chickens will run to a corner, make sure that the corner is solid so a raccoon can't grab them when they crowd into the corner.
I once set a live trap, they couldn't get the bait free so they (two, one on each side) picked up the trap and tried to carry it off, but I had it tied down so they only got as far as chain would allow. got it on video.

 

[tarragon]

Quote:
Wow! I never imagined that were THAT clever. Spooky.

 

[patandchickens]

It is much, much harder to make a run raccoonproof than to make the COOP (henhouse) raccoonproof.

Thus, IMO the smartest thing if you're worried about raccoons is simply to make sure you're locking the hens into a secure house every day by dusk without fail.

If you're not going to do that, you'd want hardwarecloth no larger than 1/2" mesh anywhere a raccoon could even CONCIEVABLY find itself within reaching distance of chicken parts, and a good digproofing apron (I'd suggest at least 3' wide) rather than burial, and honestly unless the WHOLE run is hardwarecloth you run the risk of a weasel finding his way in (yes, you almost certainly have weasels, even if you've never seen any)

Remember, raccoons are professional raccoons, they do not just play one on TV. They are much stronger than most people give them credit for, have very sharp teeth and claws, and ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT to try to figure out how to get to the buffet on the other side of the wire.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[rockbottompottery]

thanks for all the help! i'll be looking into the wire cloth

 

[kdavis228]

I found some old tin and ran it all the way around the bottom of the run. The tin is 2ft. By 12ft. And it is slick enough were most critters can't climb it, and I've also heard especially for possoms if they can't see em they don't mess with them. Just a suggestion its worked so far for me, and there over a year old!

 

[ccshambhala]

We created what we fondly refer to as"fort knox" by burying 1' of 4' high chainlink in the ground, and running the hardware cloth behind that. Overlapping we put chicken wire up to the top and chicken wire for the top (with metal roofing over part of it. I was worried how long buried thin wire would last - and we've had no problems with ours (as long as we get home before dark to shut the coop

)

 

[YYZ]

One nite a racoon come by trying to get in my hen house. I ran out in time after i heard the hens being upset.
The next nite the coon came back with a buddy to help. They managed to undo a hook lock on the door and get in. Once again i ran out in time.
I think they were mainly after eggs.

 

[CO-OP_COOP]

wow! im reading this and its making me think again before i complete my coop as well. I already had a lil problem with some racoons with my ducks. And I will be using 1/2 inch wire my self.. What is Hardwire cloth? does anyone have a pic of it? How does a mini 1 foot electric fenc around the perimeter sound? (activated at night only of course)

 

[JoePa]

I had coons visiting my chicken house so I set some leghold traps around the perimeter of the coop and run - when I caught a coon I would shoot it - ended up getting 4 - now I don't see anymore around - the traps stay there and would catch any opossums that come around also - I can't stay out by the coop at night so the traps stand guard for me - I have 1''by 1 and a half welded wire around the sides of the run with chicken wire over that - on the roof I have chicken wire with a aluminum covering from an old above swiming pool - on the coop I have hardware cloth to cover any openings - the only animal that could get in there would be a bear -