The most important part of my chicken pen (pic)

[Tala]

The "dig-prevention skirt"

It's 1ft wide, and I use whatever I can find (concrete blocks are ideal though) to make sure it stays flat since I can't get grass to grow through it. Nothing has dug under once I put these down!!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Exactly! Lots of people talk about digging down. Forget that! Too much work!! Mine is skirted and has grass and shrubs growing into it. Nothing has gotten under it in 3 years!

 

[elmo]

1 foot might be cutting things a bit too close. I made mine 2 feet wide, and I lock my chickens inside a very secure coop at night anyway. If I had a real daytime predator risk to contend with (like dogs roaming the neighborhood), I think I would have gone for a 3 foot wide apron.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Plenty of raccoons and foxes have tested it - and it's working.

"whatever works"

On my first coop I went for 2ft wide, but in a year of use it just seemed like overkill.

 

[joletabey]

Landscape anchor pins help keep it in place till grass anchors it.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Well, it would seem like "overkill" because nothing got in. I just hope you don't find out some morning that a 12 inch apron is "underkill." Good luck, and I hope your apron keeps holding critters out!

 

[catdaddy66]

That should do nicely though I would extend it a bit further, personally. Most predators dig as close to the vertical fence as possible but are not able to reason and back up 1-2 feet to try again. If anything, they try to get closer! I would also put some dirt or mulch to encourage growth over the skirt, hiding it from view. That is, of course, for looks only.

 

[Mahonri]

I would probably tack it down with tent pegs or something metal... and the concrete blocks I would put large side down, a dog could tip those over pretty easy, but like you say, whatever works...

Mine is buried.