Second guessing my run plan...

[WIChick]

Help! I'm looking for your feedback after scouring these threads. Call it my newbie jitters

Ok...my DH is working on our 5X8 coop for our 9 chicks. They are 7 weeks old. We live in a heavily wooded area in Northern WI, so imagine our concern about predators. Well...let me clarify that its MY concern. haha Hubby thinks its a solid plan. Our attached run will be 8 x16. I purchased 1/2 inch hardwire cloth to apron out 18 inches and run up the entire 6 foot height of the run. I then planned to run chicken wire over the top of the run so its entirely enclosed. I'm concerned the chicken wire will turn into dental floss for the raccoons. Do you think a double layer of offset chicken wire will be secure enough for the top? I want to do this the right way the first time. Thanks for any input!

 

[fschutzman]

The problem is some predators can tear through chicken wire, even, I would guess, double and offset. It is surprising what raccoons can do, if they have made up their mind to get to your flock. The whole gang of raccoons will work together. It make take them longer, but they can deform the chicken wire and then reach in enough to damage your birds and kill them.
I know chicken wire is cheaper, but losing a flock is actually more expensive. You could make a 6 foot tall by 4 feet wide box, wide enough to fit a hardware cloth covered door, (even a screen door covered in hardware cloth), so you can get into your "little room" for cleaning. Make the rest of the run as an "A-frame" with hinged sides half way up, so you can clean it by lifting one bottom side, that way you are saving on hardware cloth, and can get the whole thing covered. You could even cover the top half of the A-frame with wood so you won't need as much hardware cloth. Good luck!

 

[teach1rusl]

Normally, I might say a double layer of chicken wire, very securely affixed onto the wood would suffice. But when you throw in there that you're in a very heavily wooded area, it makes me nervous, especially if the coop is really close to the woodline. Like in my area, we have a decent amount of woods area on our property, but our coop has a small field as a buffer,and not a lot of predators (raccoons being our exception) will brave crossing the field. My brother built his coop right at the edge of the woods, and he had predators crawling over one another to get at his chickens.
So in your shoes, I would opt for 2x4 welded wire as a roof. It's cheaper than hardware cloth, and has served me well for the past four years against raccoons...

 

[aart]

Agrees that 2x4 welded wire fencing for run roof would be better than doubled CW.

The run construction might depend on whether the coop is left open to the run 24/7 or if the birds are locked up tight at night.

Hopefully your coop itself is tight against night predators with 1/2 hardware cloth attached with screws and washers on every opening larger than 1". Do you have weasels in your area?

 

[WIChick]

Yes we have weasels...even had a wolf standing in my front yard not too long ago. Its like Wild America out here. haha I do plan to lock the girls in their coop at night, I think that is a must. The coop and run will be 30 yards from the house, but its going to be surrounded on three sides by woods (which I may consider clearing out a bit more). I also read that raccoons will pull out staples on hardware cloth? Did you all attach the cloth with screws/washers only? Thanks so much for the ideas. I'm definitely going with the 2x4 welded wire for the top. Glad I kept my menards receipt.

 

[RedneckGurl]

Because our run is so large (25' x 25') we are planning on covering the run with reinforced chicken wire however we also plan to run an electric wire around the top of the 6' fence poles so that should something manage to climb up past the two feet of .5" hardware cloth which will run along the bottom to where the 2" x 4" welded wire fencing takes over then it should get knocked for a loop once it reaches the top and the electric wire. If the animal is larger, like a raccoon, it should survive the jolt to be able to run away, but any predator much smaller than that and I'll likely find it dead on the ground the next morning. I accidentally killed a squirrel like that when we had an dog pen with the electric wire around the bottom since our boys were diggers.

 

[WIChick]

ohh! I'm liking that idea too. Electric is good! I may have to name my coop Fort Knox after we are done.

 

[SobbaChickens]

Lots of great ideas! I'm glad I read this post

My coop and run is done for now but we are going to be redoing the run this summer. My chickens are sharing the area with my guard dogs and even after 12 years they still wake me up multiple times a night with their barking so I feel very confident that the chickens are 110% protected at night. That and their coop is predator proof and they are locked in at night. During the day might be another story because the run is not predator proof except from hawks (I have deer netting covering the entire run). Two walls are cattle panel/chicken wire and 2 walls are chain link/chicken wire. But we've also never had any predator come to the house during the day.