The Truth about Chicken Wire / Hex Netting...

[blipit007]

We have the standard gage (whatever Lowe's sells) chicken wire for the run and then an inside roosting/nesting area constructed out of plywood...where the hens sleep. Never had a problem with anything breaking in.
BUT - we have a lost a bird or two in our free range flock from raccoons. The chickens roost up in the rafters of the building, but if anyone roosts low, they were fair game for attack. We installed an alert system (those wireless alerts that notify you someone is in your driveway) and pointed it up the mountain, away from the chickens. If anything walks past the unit, an alarm sounds in the house.
Yes, that means we have gotten up at 3 AM many nights to chase critters through the woods...but, we haven't lost another chicken (knock on wood) since installing it.

That sounds awesome!!!

 

[acsinos]

That sounds awesome!!!

It seems effective. I am lucky to have a hubby that indulges me...and finds it "exciting" to chase down possums in the dark!

 

[Alaskan]

Yes, I can understand the financial aspect.  But on the other hand, what about the impact of attacks on your chickens -stress.  I have heard accounts of people that have had repeated attacks and the effect it has had on chickens health, laying etc.

I have found that when I have lost a single chicken due to a raptor, there has been no noticeable drop in egg production... BUT when dogs have gotten into my run, even when they only 'played' with my chickens and killed either none or only one or two, the egg production dropped way own for at least a week.

*sigh*

 

[DuginMT]

Yes, I can understand the financial aspect. But on the other hand, what about the impact of attacks on your chickens -stress. I have heard accounts of people that have had repeated attacks and the effect it has had on chickens health, laying etc.

Chicken PTSD, huh? Well, I am getting them used to our basset hound and will be locking them in a secure coop every night. I would be much more unhappy to see one or more of them killed than for them to stop laying for awhile. I guess we will just see how this summer goes. We have lots of predators and I am considering getting one or two of those red solar-powered blinking lights if they are proven to help.

 

[DuginMT]

Ordered three of the Nite Guard red blinking lights from Amazon at about $17 each, free shipping. There were mostly good reviews on there. Hope they help. Here is a picture of my recently completed run.

 

[Alaskan]

That looks good and sturdy.

Good luck!

 

[DuginMT]

Thanks Alaskan, I think it will hold the chickens in just fine and keep the raptors out. I am a little worried about cats and canines. There are mountain lions, bobcats, house cats, dogs and coyotes in the vicinity. Hopefully they won't venture that close to the house, and the red lights will be effective. Will keep a shotgun handy!

 

[aggiemae]

but if you could get chicken hex in a low enough gauge, you could do the bulk of your run (including the roof) with that and the bottom three feet in hardware cloth and have a hen fort knox.

that is what we did in our run but we used only hardware cloth on the coop.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

I buried a larger, cheaper chicken wire about eight inches under our run then ran it up the sides to the run itself. In essence, it forms a complete cage around the run and coop. I replaced chicken wire on the sides of the run with 1/2" hardware cloth. In our very urban area, there are lots of racoons (vicious things!), skunks, possums and coyotes. And as we all know, everything eats chicken!
It's not really whether the screening is chicken wire or hardware cloth, but the materials' heavy gauge. A smaller opening makes the wire sturdier, also.
Decades ago, chicken wire was produced with a much stronger composition than we can usually find now in the stores. But if you're able to ask around, and search there is some heavy duty chicken wire to be found. This would be fine for a run, or as covering for the coop's windows, ventilation etc.
I've used a stapler gun to attach the hardware cloth. I shot the staples really closely together! A strip on the inside of the window, covering the staples would be extra insurance, also.
We've never had any problems with predators getting into the coop or run (the two are attached), though I've seen plenty of them in the yard... Mama's and babies!

 

[DuginMT]

As an update, I noticed that my pullets were actively digging next to the run fence, already 4" down in spots, so last weekend I purchased 188 lbs {two bags} of Portland cement and mixed it in with the soil around the inside edge of my run {about 14" in from the fence, and about 4" deep} and then watered the heck out of it. The soil in the run was pea gravel, sand and clay, so it set up very hard, and no more concerns about the chicks digging their way out! No signs of predators trying to dig in yet, but the soil cement should slow them down, anyway. I was also able to make a little concrete stoop for in front and back of the main gate, this has been nice to stay out of the mud because it has been raining quite a bit lately; Now when the chicks try to dig next to the run fence they are just filing their nails.

Have a great week!