Run Security Question

[EggieRowe]

From what I've gathered on the forum & coop section, most runs either a) have a buried apron, b) a staked down apron, or c) nothing. We previous had a coop & run without any apron, but recently lost all six of those hens to a predator who climbed/jumped OVER the 8' fence vs. digging under.

We've since moved to an industrial property (manufacturing plant) where people are outside working from about 6 am to 6 pm, M-F. I will be securing the hens in the coop each night. Realistically, would an apron even be necessary? Most predators seem to operate at night and I don't know of any that would risk attacking the coop with over a dozen people in view during the day. (I suppose if it was rabid, but that's a problem unto itself...) On weekends I'll be working on converting the little remaining grass area, not consumed by the run, into garden space & putting in fruit trees. Even when we're not working on something outside, we practically live outside on the weekends. (We plug the tailgating trailer into the house and basically tailgate in the yard...LOL.) Oh, and the coop & run will be attached to the house (the back side where there are no windows), but I think we could still hear something if it rouses the hens in the night and be out there w/gun in hand pronto.

Am I being naive or just foolish to not want to go to the trouble of putting down an apron? If I was to put down an apron, how far down or from the edge of the run should it extend?

 

[7 Biddies]

My run is 12 x 6, and rather than the apron, we extended the hardware cloth all the way across the bottom of the run, overlapping it where it meets in the middle and fastening with plenty of clips. I'm using the deep litter method on top of that to keep the girls' little tootsies protected. They seem happy with the arrangement and I feel like they're well protected. Plus, it was much easier than trying to dig a trench 2 feet down through rock or worrying if an apron was wide enough.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

We put down an apron that just goes down about 6", but it extends about 2 feet. Our problem was digging under the coop right where the run and the dirt met, and now that there's an apron of hardware cloth, we haven't had any digging. We also wrapped the bottom of the actual coop with hardware cloth, and set the coop on a cement foundation. So far, so good. I just figure I paid over $200 for my chicks when they were a day old. Now that they are old enough to lay, and I charge $3/dozen for eggs, they must be worth about $20/each. $20 X 60 hens = $1200.......vs about $100 of hardware cloth and a few minutes labor.