Something killed my ducks

[Lacy3816]

What is cloth wire?
And is the tarp on the side for shade?

The tarp is partial top and shade I bought some heavy duty tarps to put on the side they come tomorrow and then a canopy top that should come by the 27th hopefully sooner than later

 

[Isaac 0]

So here is the finished pen for my ducks with cloth wire on top wit a tarp to keep predators away and then a hard cloth wire at the bottom with landscape timber screwed together with rocks following. this better work what you guys think??

Don't mean to be the Debby downer, but a mink could easily enter that pen. It will climb up the wire and go through the chainlink hole.

 

[Lacy3816]

Don't mean to be the Debby downer, but a mink could easily enter that pen. It will climb up the wire and go through the chainlink hole.

Oh no it’s okay I will take any advise. I did put cloth wire on all the fence and a plywood board in front of the door. Do you think it will still come in?

 

[Isaac 0]

Oh no it’s okay I will take any advise. I did put cloth wire on all the fence and a plywood board in front of the door. Do you think it will still come in?

Any chainlink that is left uncovered with hardware cloth the mink will be able to get in to. I only see hard ware cloth on the bottom half of the pen.

 

[Lacy3816]

Oh your right I only used hard wire for the bottoms and some garden cloth wire for the top I don’t know if I’m describing it right but say a bird flew into it and it broke the bird would be trapped because it would be wrapped in the cloth and couldn’t escape. It’s thin and black in color

 

[bobhoke]

Very sorry this happened. You need to build something called an apron around the base of your pen. It's where you take hardware cloth and start about a foot up the side of your pen and extend it down around the base so it extends about two feet all the way around at ground level, then cover it good with gravel and rocks. It keeps varmints from digging under and getting in around the bottom of your pen. They are not smart enough to go out two feet and tunnel underneath from that far out. Leave no holes or gaps! Chain link is not secure, as you have seen. I wish you better success going forward.

It works great. I have done this around my entire run and I live in coyoteville boonies and haven’t lost a bird inside the wire yet. A six foot fence helps with motion sensor activated solar powered lights all around help too. I also have an elevated platform my dog can’t get up loaded with coon traps and it works well. Skin the coons and other critters and feed the meat to the chicken - they love it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It works great. I have done this around my entire run and I live in coyoteville boonies and haven’t lost a bird inside the wire yet. A six foot fence helps with motion sensor activated solar powered lights all around help too. I also have an elevated platform my dog can’t get up loaded with coon traps and it works well. Skin the coons and other critters and feed the meat to the chicken - they love it.

What, no Secret Service agents??? JK, giving you a hard time.

 

[hayley3]

Any chainlink that is left uncovered with hardware cloth the mink will be able to get in to. I only see hard ware cloth on the bottom half of the pen.

Don't you think the raccoons are just gonna tear the top off of that? I hate to be a Debby Downer too.

 

[Isaac 0]

Don't you think the raccoons are just gonna tear the top off of that? I hate to be a Debby Downer too.

Is the top only covered with a tarp? I thought there was wire on the top.

 

[Lacy3816]

Is the top only covered with a tarp? I thought there was wire on the top.

It’s covered with a tarp and a net I had to look it up here’s the picture