Skirt

[worms7]

Skirt on a chicken run should i put it on the inside & trap it
with the run & have 2 foot outside
on the ground
cheers Phil

 

[cavemanrich]

You only need the 2 feet on the outside to keep predators from entering. You can bury it just the same.

 

[worms7]

Yes but say my wire is 3ft wide should i put a foot on the
inside & trap it with the run & have a 2ft apron
cheers Phil

 

[PingoBags]

Yes but say my wire is 3ft wide should i put a foot on the
inside & trap it with the run & have a 2ft apron
cheers Phil

I don't think having it on the inside would help at all.
Even if you put all 3' on the inside, whatever is digging, will already be under the skirt, that defeats the purpose unless it's buried.
By putting it on the outside, that stops the digging.

You can put 1' of it on the inside if you want, but I personally think that first 2' is what will stop the predator.
Having all 3' on the outside would be much better in my opinion, just make sure it is VERY secure to the run.
If you have a strong skirt but it's poorly secured to the run/coop, it's not going to be much help if the predator can pull it away.

 

[Howard E]

This is how I installed the skirt/apron on the house........





The panel shown on the right was 2' wire. The one on the left is 3'. In both cases, the wire panels were laid flat on the ground with a short leg of about 4 inches or so bent upright and nailed to the bottom perimeter of the house. So a digging predator will start in at the base of the house, trying to go under and will immediately hit the wire and be defeated. They will continue to probe up and down the line, looking for the weak spot that doesn't exist. They never do figure out they need to back off a couple feet and start a tunnel operation out beyond the wire and dig in from there. Normally, a 2' panel is enough. The store ran out of 2' so I filled in with 3'. The extra foot isn't necessary.

Panel are held tight to the ground by landscape pins, or in my case, tent stakes.......the kind that resemble (because the are) large nails, with a plastic cap on the end. Mow the grass down tight and lay it flat on the ground. Within a week or so of putting this down, the grass had grown up and I now simply mow right over it.

 

[Cacique500]

Good advice from Howard E and I set mine up almost the same way. I did not go inside the run because I didn't want the girls trying to dig and risk torn nails, foot damage, or cuts from the edge of the wire (they can dig pretty deep inside the run). Mine was placed under the 4x4's and then staked with rebar through the 4x4. I also used landscaping staples on the outside to hold the wire down. The grass has now mostly grown up through the outside wire so you can't see it.

 

[aart]

On the coop, yes, outside......
....but on my run I wish I had put some apron on the inside as the birds will also dig next to the run wall and have dug out and underneath the outer apron/skirt.
I ended up putting other barriers around the inside of the run to keep them from 'digging out'.