Run Wire; inside or outside of the frame, your thoughts

[Carols Clucks]

I would love to hear your thoughts on the wire.

I am running the whole run walls in aviary wire with the lower 24" in hardware cloth as well. The chickens would almost never be kept with the doors to their secure coop left open to this run. But we do have regular visitors of raccoon and opossums. I have started by putting the wire on the outside of the run but it looks kind of tacky and is a pain to stretch smooth.

Would putting it on the inside of the 2x4 over built structure with screws through bottle caps as fasteners be strong enough?

I plan on having a walk right next to it so the scratches off the wire might be an issue too.

 

[coolcanoechic]

I think if you put the hardware cloth on the outside, it would be harder for a large animal to try to push it in. You could sandwitch the cloth with trim boards to make it even stronger and cover the rough edges.

 

[gardendufus]

I think if you put the hardware cloth on the outside, it would be harder for a large animal to try to push it in. You could sandwitch the cloth with trim boards to make it even stronger and cover the rough edges.

X2

Even tho I don't have large predators, this was reinforced to me when I found my german shepherd (who is VERY attracted to my chickens) standing on her hind legs, leaning against the wire covered run.

 

[melwynnd]

I would say on the outside too. Raccoons are incredibly strong and persistent. They will find a corner and push it until the wire breaks or the fastners come out. The hardware cloth will help a lot at the lower end.

Since I'm planning on having my goats next to the chicken run, I'm going to put up hardware cloth and 4" wire horse panels. Goats love to stand on a fence!!


Sherry

 

[Carols Clucks]

I decided just to run the wire on the inside. Mom is almost 90 so the wire on the outside was more risky for pokes.

It is fastened with the longest staples for the staple gun AND fat head screws through bottle caps every 4". I think at this point the wire would be what would fail before the fasteners.

Guessing the chickens will only spend a couple of nights a year in the coop with the door open to the run, so they should be okay. The hardware cloth is the first couple of feet with a double buried wire system "foundation" aviary wire from the inside of the coop under cinderblock with buried hardware cloth on the outside that will be under cement pavers too The roof is tin, so they are not getting in that way (I can see where one tried on the steep pitch of the coop....that must have been quite a thud when he hit the ground-enjoying the slide marks)

 

[Red Barn Farms]

Hardware cloth should be attached to the outside of the run area. It will make it harder for a large predator to push it's way in. Once we had our wire attached we used trim boards against the main posts for added security and strength. Also remember when adding the hardware cloth it should be at least 12" deep in the ground to make it harder for any animal to dig it's way under and in.