Up until now, our chickens have always free-ranged; however, I have decided that I am in need of a few runs to keep some breeds separate during breeding season. They would be locked in the coop at night and we are not planning on using automatic coop doors.
My first thought was to purchase some kennel panels, cover the lower 2-3 feet with hardware cloth, bury an additional 1-2' of hardware cloth under ground to deter diggers, and cover the top to keep out birds of prey. I figure the whole set up could run me about $1500, unless I get lucky and find what I need on CL, but I have been searching for almost 6 months with no luck.
However, I recently came across some new, 6' high x 8' long, wood stockade fencing, similar to what is pictured below, for an awesome deal. I would still bury hardware cloth around the base to keep out predators, and then cover the top to keep out birds of prey. This set up would save me a significant amount of money (almost $1000.00).
Based on what I have seen on BYC, some people strongly caution against using this because "predators can chew through the side". If that is the case, then shouldn't we all have to worry about predators chewing through our coop walls as well?
What are your thoughts? Pros? Cons?
My first thought was to purchase some kennel panels, cover the lower 2-3 feet with hardware cloth, bury an additional 1-2' of hardware cloth under ground to deter diggers, and cover the top to keep out birds of prey. I figure the whole set up could run me about $1500, unless I get lucky and find what I need on CL, but I have been searching for almost 6 months with no luck.
However, I recently came across some new, 6' high x 8' long, wood stockade fencing, similar to what is pictured below, for an awesome deal. I would still bury hardware cloth around the base to keep out predators, and then cover the top to keep out birds of prey. This set up would save me a significant amount of money (almost $1000.00).
Based on what I have seen on BYC, some people strongly caution against using this because "predators can chew through the side". If that is the case, then shouldn't we all have to worry about predators chewing through our coop walls as well?
What are your thoughts? Pros? Cons?
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