Run Construction Advice: Hardware Cloth Base

[drellbug]

Hello everyone, I'm planning on getting chickens later this summer but I don't have any experience with them besides the research I've been doing.

I'm currently trying to design an 8'x8' immobile run and was wondering if I could get some second opinions on a design idea I had that I haven't really seen in any other immobile run designs. I know that its recommended you bury hardware cloth about 6" deep around the perimeter of the run, but the location I plan on building the run is very rocky and full of large roots so digging would be difficult. I thought alternatively I could make a base to the run that has hardware cloth attached along the bottom that sits on top of the ground. I could then put dirt, gravel, and other materials on top for the chickens to stand on and dig through.





Can anyone think of any issues with this strategy? Will it protect from digging predators? Will a few inches be enough for the chickens to dig through? Thanks so much for any advice.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Your chickens will dig into the wire and might hurt themselves. What many in your situation do is lay hardware cloth along the outside ground of your run. They bury the hardware cloth to protect against predators digging under your fencing. If you lay fencing along the ground outside your run you get the same protection.