Run wall material??

[PippinTheChicken]

Thank you Pippin! Cute chickens!

They were very wet when the photo was taken. It was before I used a canvas cover (gazebo cover) to cover the run

 

[sgtruglo]

Forgot to post an update. No harsh critics please ... my husband and I built this in 2 weekends together. We still have some final things to finish but overall we are happy with it. There is a Door next to the coop so we can get in and out as need be.

 

[sgtruglo]

Depends on what predators you may be dealing with and what the predator load is.

If you really want to go for overkill, something like hardware cloth over larger opening welded wire or cattle panels or chain link) should do a good job deterring most larger and tinier predators/pests. If dealing with truly powerful predators (such as bears) then electric in addition to that would be something to consider.

Thank you! I should have mentioned we mainly deal with hawks and fox here.

 

[sgtruglo]

My run is two 10x10 chain link dog kennels added together to make a 10x20 run. I wire tied 1/4x1/4 hardware cloth on the bottom 3 or 4 feet up however wide it was to keep long armed critters from reaching in.

Frankly if I didn't have the dog kennels to use what I would have done was use 2x4 welded wire and still tie the hardware cloth on the bottom.

I will say my coop stays open 24/7 so I built the main run bullet proof. I even covered the top under the tin in chain link. I do have a 20x30 just cheap "chicken wire" uncovered run on the front of my main run I let them out when I'm home. Since I spend 90% of my time in my shop and they are behind my shop I can easily grab my shotgun and take care of things. At night they are locked up in fort knox and have 0 access to the less secure area.

Wow. Sounds like they are really secure. Thanks for the tips!

 

[sgtruglo]

Remember to close the entire top thoroughly, too.
I have a 6 foot high wood privacy fence, and there is a fox that goes over it regularly. The fox does not even hesitate, just goes over so fast I cannot tell whether it is jumping or climbing.

(No, I am not trusting my fence to keep chickens safe from that fox. But I was surprised by how easily the fox goes over the fence.)

Thank you. Plan was to close top and designing the final details now before construction. They are still in large brooder in garage now.

 

[NatJ]

Those economy j clip pliers are junk. The good ones don't cost much more and work 100 times better.

Your experience is clearly different than mine!

I have not tried the exact style you showed, but the economy style never gave me any trouble. I once had a "heavy duty" pair that did not work well at all: the j clip ends ran into each other, instead of overlapping properly. (I eventually decided that pair of pliers was a little bit the wrong shape for the j clips I was using, but the economy pliers worked fine with the very same j clips.)

 

[sgtruglo]

I used treated 2x4's, clear roofing and hardware cloth along with some free barn boards for my run. If you want to keep smaller critters out, like mice, rats, weasels, keep the openings small. A weasel will also wipe out your flock in one night. If the hardware cloth is secured properly, and you don't have large animal concerns, (like bear large), I don't think you'd need both welded wire and hardware cloth.

Thank you Chuckie! I love your design! That is similar to what I was envisioning off our small coop. No bears in our neighborhood (so far). Did you use 1/2” or 1” hardware cloth?
Thanks

 

[sgtruglo]

View attachment 2626422

Thank you Pippin! Cute chickens!