Racoons

[chickens4gramma]

Quote:
This is what I am planning (bottom of run 1/2 inch hardware cloth and buried a foot, then 2 x 4 inch around the upper half and top) but my husband said rats could crawl up the bottom half and get through the 2x 4 inch wire. Is that true? Should I just spend the extra $ and go with 1/2 inch for the whole thing?

We are still in the learning and planning stage of chickens, lol.

 

[BillHoo]

Raccoons, rats, coyotes and bears!

Coons will reach through and kill checkens and rip pieces off to eat, leaving the rest of the carcass. I've also seen coon steadily scratch at wood until they get a corner they can gnaw until they get a hole to climb through.

Rats can squeeze into small cracks and holes. they can also chew through metal.

Coyotes can rip chicken wire.

Bears. Not much can stop a bear except a hotwire.

You need traps and an electric fence charger!


Or a baited area where you can shoot, a spotlight and a .22 rifle.

 

[texasgal]

Raccoons ripped the hardware cloth off my juvenile cage last week and killed 14 half grown chicks.

Raccoons partially ripped the hardware cloth off my banty cage .. I was able to patch.

They are ruthless terrorizing predators. I'm concerned for my big coop that has hardware cloth in the windows and doors.

I have an extermination plan ..........

 

[bryan99705]

Quote:
This is what I am planning (bottom of run 1/2 inch hardware cloth and buried a foot, then 2 x 4 inch around the upper half and top) but my husband said rats could crawl up the bottom half and get through the 2x 4 inch wire. Is that true? Should I just spend the extra $ and go with 1/2 inch for the whole thing?

We are still in the learning and planning stage of chickens, lol.

If you're fighting rats after your chickens then go 1/2" cloth all sides plus top and bottom and fill every crevass.but they still may chew thru the unwired wooden frame or theu the floor of the coop. If it's just coons, don't bother with digging in skirt and the 2x4 wire will stop their entry. If there are coyotes or fox around, the use the anti-coon plan and lay the skirt on the ground (fastened to the run and go out about 18" to stop their digging. It doesn't make sense to dig in wire against fox cause you just loosen the ground for them plus it's a lot of work

 

[bryan99705]

Quote:
Fasten the hardware cloth to the frame with screws and fender washers at the corners and about every 12 " along it's run. You can fill in with fence staples. Don'y bother trying staple gun staples, they don't hold