They chew through hardware cloth?!?

[Appalachickens]

Good catch!

I would also trim around the coop so that the hardware cloth is positioned between two pieces of board. If it is only stapled to one board it is a lot easier for a predator to rip through the material.

How did you attach the welded wire fencing? You could probably accomplish the same strength by using screws and large washers.

The point being, you want them to have to really fight to rip it open. (Reinforcing it like this gives you time to find and fix b/c it usually takes a couple of days for them to work it open). You can accomplish this by either trimming out the coop or using the screws and washers in strategic locations all around the coop.

I agree with the second board on the other side of the HC/fencing. We did that with our run and afterwards I pulled on it as hard as I could - it wasn't budging. (Of course, a bear might beg to differ.) I have 1/2 inch hardware cloth over the entire run and an addition of welded wire fencing on the bottom 3 feet. It's an open coop, so the run has to be secure.