Suggestions for blocking off underneath coop?

[Medda]

Hi all,
I need to fence/block off the access to underneath the coop do the chicks will not be able to go under and to keep predators from gaining access to the run. I’m stumped at the moment on how to secure the fencing to ground, etc.

For the actual run, I am going to use a 10’x6’ chain link panel attached to the side of the coop at a 90” angle on both sides (one side has the door for the chain link kennel):

I want to attach the 2”x3” and 1/2” HDC directly to the coop with fencing staples across the front and about 24” down both sides:

Any suggestions on how I can secure the wire to the ground?
Thanks, Medda

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

They make garden staples.

If you bend the hardware cloth 90* at the ground you can staple it to the ground.
They will eventually rust but the grass with grow through the hardware cloth and hold it down.

 

[azygous]

Do you want this skirting to be permanent? Or just temporary until the chicks are grown? Either way, a sill of 2 x 4s fastened at the corners with metal strapping would give you a base to staple to.

 

[Medda]

Semi-permanent to permanent. This will be a part of the run for full grown chickens to range when I’m not outside or home with them. I do plan to also do a 24” apron/skirt around the entire run, including underneath the front part of the coop. This might help:

The run will be 40’ wide (including the 10’ width of coop) and 48’ long extending out from coop. I want to secure the underneath from predators going under the coop to access the run as well as keeping the chickens from going under to lay.
Medda

 

[Justso]

Dig a shallow trench below the side of the building. Staple hardware cloth to the building and bury in the trench. backfill the inside (yard side) of the trench with gravel

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I'm dealing with a similar situation for my coop. I can't tie my run to the sides of the coop because the height that I want for the sides of the run gets in the way of the eaves. If I do make it work, then I have to block off that area underneath just like you do. I'm not seeing an elegant solution to attaching my run directly to the coop.

So, what my Dad suggested last weekend - and I think will make it a ton simpler for my setup - is to push the run away from the coop by about 16", and just make a very short "chunnel" (about a foot) that goes from the coop to the run. I'll probably make it like 2 ft by 2ft or something so that it is essentially an extension of the coop. The ramp from the coop will walk through this "chunnel" and into the run. For my setup, this will let me make wire fence panels that I can connect to posts that I put in the ground, and covering the run will simply be putting some rafters over the run and covering with the polycarbonate roofing. I eliminate the hassle of trying to tie in the run roofing with the coop roofing. In hindsight, I needed to prepare better for combining the two together, but that's just how it goes sometimes. I'll be losing a small bit of square footage by doing it this way, but it makes construction so much easier, and I have more run space than birds, so I can afford to give up a little, even if I max out my number of birds some day.

 

[Medda]

Thanks all. I like the idea of a Chunnel since I have a second pop door on the o5her side. Instead of doing one 40’x48’ run, I could do 2 runs and rotate the birds. I only have 14 at present so space isn’t an issue.
Medda

 

[aart]

I climbed under there and attached fencing to floor joists and trenched the bottom for the 'under-run' wall about 4' back from edge of coop wall. Course mine's a bit taller maybe, 24-30"...and when I added 1/2" HC all around a couple years later a more nimble buddy of mine crawled under around the outside to attach it.