Tell me what you guys think, first time building coop

[prepperchickens]

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We have 2 giuneas (1 male, 1 hen), 1 Easter egger hen, 1 barred rock hen, and 2 silver sebrights (1 roo, 1 hen). We decided to make the coop high off the ground with only a fold up ramp leading inside which will be put up when the chickens go in at night. We haven't started on the run yet, but in your experience is there any way for predators to get in when the coop is several feet off the ground with no way up to the door or windows?
The small cut out beside the window will be the entrance for the chickens, the bigger door is for humans and will be closed with no stairs or anything.
Should hardware cloth be placed over the screen?
Also, would welded aluminum work for the run ? Hardware cloth around here comes in panels way too small for the size we want to build for them. Also, the exterior will be covered in siding.

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[prepperchickens]

 

[thomasboyle]

Looks good! I would place hardware wire over any opening that you want open for ventilation, yet still secure. I was able to find hardware wire in 36" x 50' rolls, and I used two rolls, one on bottom, one on top to cover my 6' tall run from top to bottom. I also used 2"x4" welded wire fencing for the outer layer. The outer layer keeps out the big predators, and the hardware wire keeps out the small ones. I've had some animals try and get past the wire - a bobcat was climbing all over it, bending the outer fence up a bit, but so far, nothing has made it past both fences.

 

[prepperchickens]

Wow, I can't imagine the panic I would feel living in the country with so many big predators wanting my chickens. Here we have a bunch if feral cats next door and they got two of my favorite little boys (a guinea and a barred rock chick who have their lives for the hens) and it really screwed me up, I have PTSD flashbacks everytime i head out to my birds that I'm going to see their broken little bodies on the ground lifeless, even though there is pretty much no chance of anything getting them in the garage (they had been in a temporary day run designed to stop hawks etc but not cats since I didn't think cats would come after birds so relatively large).i really love my birds more than I ever imagined I would love chickens so it's a big deal to me keeping them safe, no loss is acceptable at all. The run is my big fear, I'm sure the largest predator we have to worry about is a fox or dog, but I worry about the small ones even more. We were thinking over covering at least the first few feet of welded aluminum with the hardware cloth, my husband says that since the panels are only 2 ft high it will be extremely expensive to buy both materials in sufficient quantity to cover the whole run. I am trying to imagine what predators are small enough to realistically squeeze through welded wire, something ferret related or a snake perhaps. We are gonna pad lock the coop so we don't have to worry about raccoons OR nasty people. Do you have a photo of your coop?

 

[thomasboyle]

If you can't cover the entire run with hardware wire, then putting it at the bottom will certainly help. It will keep critters like raccoons from reaching in and grabbing chickens. I have a chain link fence for my 3 dogs, and I am amazed how animals can squeeze through the 2"x2" holes. My dogs were chasing an opposum, and I watched in amazement as the opposum squeezed through the fence. I was sure I was going to have to go pull it out as it got stuck.

I got tired of losing chickens, ducks and guineas, so I built my coop to Ft Knox standards. The shed itself is 12x16, and inside I have a dedicated area for the chickens, and another area for the ducks. They both open up to the same outdoor pen. Also in the shed I have hay storage and feed / grain storage as well as two brooders which have the next generation of chickens and ducks in them now. The wire covered pen opens up to a 1/2 acre chicken yard that is protected by 4' high electric net fence.

I enjoy having the wildlife around, I just don't want them eating my chickens and ducks! Here are some pics from the past month. The bobcat picture is take by a camera that is 6 inches from the chicken yard electric fence. The others are taken by another camera I have about 200 feet from the chickens. You'd be amazed at the animals you have around you. I rarely see these animals in person, but I get pictures of them all the time from my motion sensor trail cameras.