Run Design - Bears in Mind

[Kwehme09]

After going a few weeks with simple cedar fence posts and 4' high chicken wire for my chicken run, I ripped it all down and started over with PT 2x4's and 1/2" hardware cloth. I haven't lost any of my 12, 9 week old chicks yet, but I knew it was a matter of time.

So now I have a 5 to 6' tall hardware cloth fence surrounding my run, which is is 12'x15'.

Any suggestions on if I should top it with something, and if so what?

I am not worried about my chickens flying out, and predators by air aren't much of a worry either. But Bears are a problem, as are raccoons. Do folks agree that aviary netting isn't enough?

I am considering framing a "roof" over the area (with a peaked ridge and rafters spaced 4' o.c., and rolling out wired fencing over the top.

Overkill? Thoughts?

 

[Life is Good!]

From what I understand, building a bear-proof run is nearly impossible. Building a bear-proof coop is possible. Type in 'bear' in the search box above and see what comes up. I know I've read about someone who was re-building after a bear attacked his coop/run. There's also a section of the forum "Where am I? Where are you?" that you could post on for like-minded people in your state.

For racoons, who are generally round but determined, make sure you dig down the hardware cloth at least a foot and have it flare out towards the outside. Racoons needs something fairly stable to climb up on, so for our run (in Illinois suburbs with many racoons), the hardware fence is 5' tall, and the posts are 6' tall. I put a band of fairly flimsy wire around the top of the posts so if someone tries to climb the fence, at the top there is nothing solid to hang onto. Has it worked? I know the racoons have been in my compost pile adjacent to the run. But I've never found racoon prints inside the run.