Switching run material

[3KillerBs]

Only the top few feet of the sides and over the top of one half are covered solely with chicken wire, should we cover that with hardware cloth too?

Most stronger predators -- dogs, coyotes, raccoons, etc. -- can rip right through chicken wire.

Many smaller predators -- weasels, snakes, rats, etc. -- can slip right through the 2" chicken wire.

 

[K0k0shka]

This will be our first winter with our chickens and I really want to make sure we care for them properly. We made the base of the run using pallets and then covered that with the chicken wire. Only the top few feet of the sides and over the top of one half are covered solely with chicken wire, should we cover that with hardware cloth too? We buried all of the frame posts down 2 feet and cemented them and are planning on adding in some braces along the corners just to make sure it will hold. I included pictures to better explain, any advice you have is appreciated!

I'm sorry to say this, but your run will need a lot of work until it's safe both from predators and from snow! As already mentioned, chicken wire won't keep your chickens safe from anything. Worse, you seem to have used a type of chicken wire that has extra wide openings. It's only a matter of time until something breaks in or slips in and tragedy strikes. A lot of common predators attack during the day, too, when your chickens are out in the run and not safe in their coop (hoping the coop itself is safe, that is). But also, the run frame doesn't look sturdy enough to support heavy snow load (and snow WILL accumulate on top, if you have chicken wire up there - trust me, I learned that the hard way, when the first snow storm completely collapsed my chicken wire covered garden a few years ago...) The biggest red flags to me is the spacing between the vertical posts (too far apart) and the fact that the top plates (horizontal boards across the top) are lying down on their flat sides, not standing up on their narrow sides. Placed like this, they have less resistance to downward pressure and can bow and break between the vertical posts. For something that's expected to bear a lot of weight, you need to put the top plates on edge, so they have more material (the wider side) to support the downward pressure. Another red flag is that your run's top is flat. It's hard to see in the picture whether and where you have any solid cover on top (it's good to give the chickens some shelter from sun, rain and snow), but with a flat top, any cover you put up there is going to collect snow that will make matters worse. If the run's top was slanted, it could've at least had a chance of shedding the snow on the covered parts.

Hard to say what the best plan of attack would be... it depends on how much time and resources you have. Top priority would be to replace the chicken wire on the sides with hardware cloth, and the chicken wire on top with 2"x4" welded wire mesh. This will make the run as safe as possible given the situation with the current frame - the top won't be 100% predator-proof, because of the larger holes, but you need larger holes to let snow through and avoid a collapse, so that's the trade-off. If you'll be replacing the mesh everywhere anyway, and will be stripping the run down to the frame, you might as well reposition the top plates as well so they are standing on edge. That would be a worthy investment of some time and labor that won't cost extra money. Diagonal braces in the corners would be another good upgrade. When winter hits and you see how much your chickens hate the snow, you might be tempted to throw a tarp over the top, and if you've shored up the wooden frame, it might hold... but it's hard to say for sure... snow is HEAVY, especially when too much falls too fast. So think about that. No cover on top would be better for the structural integrity of the run. The 2"x4" mesh on top will let most snow through, but not all, so you'll still need to knock it down from below periodically. Not perfect but a lot better than chicken wire. And anything that will let ALL snow through, will have holes too big to be safe. But you'll find that no cover on top is a lot more work for you, having to shovel every time it snows, so your chickens can come outside. Long-term, the ideal scenario is if you could put a solid roof over the run, but it will need to be pitched, and that will require additional modifications to the frame...

 

[m3torres]

This will be our first winter with our chickens and I really want to make sure we care for them properly. We made the base of the run using pallets and then covered that with the chicken wire. Only the top few feet of the sides and over the top of one half are covered solely with chicken wire, should we cover that with hardware cloth too? We buried all of the frame posts down 2 feet and cemented them and are planning on adding in some braces along the corners just to make sure it will hold. I included pictures to better explain, any advice you have is appreciated!

We created a simple run this year and made sure it has a hard roof. This is v3.0. The prior one v2.0, was larger and we had roofing shingles cause v1.0 caved in with the snow.

 

[3KillerBs]

I learned that the hard way, when the first snow storm completely collapsed my chicken wire covered garden a few years ago.