Too late for hardware cloth! Noooooo!

[lyndatu]

Peck

Is this bad?

We just finished the coop. It is made of a lot of chicken wire because we live under a tropical climate (very hot....whew!) But I saw a thread here about predators: Chicken wire is just plastic wrap for racoons to penetrate! Oh no! I heard hardware cloth is good for protection, but too late! Although we do not have racoons, we only have a few street cats and some mice (but our cats are very stupid; they tried to run through a window thinking it's a door and they got a serious headache and got dizzy good for them)

But still.........I wouldn't want to risk having my chicks inside! Is it too late for me to change it to hardware cloth? Our carpenter left now and my dad got angry of him because he's making things slower to increase his salary ($4 a day). I wouldn't want to bring him back! Is it too late, or chicken wire will do fine? We're going to paint the chicken wire to make it a little stronger. So, which is which? If it has to be hardware cloth, I'll just find a way to change it.....Thanks in advance......

Pls chicken wire... chicken wire... chicken wire... chicken wire!

Oh, and happy thanksgiving there! (we do not have that kind of event here at the Philippines, but it sounds fun)

 

[barg]

In some areas chicken wire is made alot stronger then in other areas and is comparable to hardware cloth; I don't know how strong the chicken wire in your area is.

Raccoons will tear a cat apart, they are not the same animal.
Racoons are bigger, stronger, and are far more capable of getting inside things then a cat is, due to the way they use their hands.

If the chicken wire you used is really weak, you may have more problems with rats, then cats;
They might be able to chew through the wire, squeeze through any openings or dig under to get in.

I don't have much experience with rats so that is mere speculation on my part.

It sounds like you don't really have that much to worry about from preditors, at least not compared to many people on here.

GL

 

[jjthink]

Hi. Not exactly sure if you're writing about a coop or a run, or both...

If the chicken wire has been well stapled in you shouldn't have problems if your only possible visitors are cats and mice. Usually cats won't bother chickens though I wouldn't generally let them near the any little chicklets - horse of a different color. Mice can find their way in but are not a serious threat to your chickens if their numbers are few. If you don't leave food out at night you won't have much trouble (I think I have one little mouse that checks in now and then and might help himself to a crumb left behind at night but that's okay...). I have just learned about a product called Mouse Magic that is supposed to repel rodents in a completely safe and nontoxic way (you can find it on line). I have not personally tested it however but I am hearing some good reports so I am going to try some should I ever need it.
If rats are a possibility, you can minimize this problem by keeping food stored in metal containers with weights on top and if your coop is insulated (not sure where you are) have hardware cloth over the insulation so they don;t try to nest in the walls (I had this problem at another location and until we put hardware cloth on the coop floor and walls the problem continued. Once we ripped out all the insulation (dirty from rats) and replaced it fresh and then covered with hardware cloth, never a problem again.
If hawks are an issue, the run should be covered with chicken wire or something that still lets light through.

Again, not exactly sure what your set up is but I hope this helps in some way.
JJ

 

[lyndatu]

Good thing cats aren't as good as racoons; ours are very stupid as well

I'm afraid the chicken wire won't stand a chance against the street cats (we have 2 or 3) because the chicken wire we used were only recycled, but it looks strong, though. Oh well....

One question: Do they scratch the wire, or do they just chew it? Or have a raging frenzy on the wire?

And rats: What's the best way to get rid of them? I'm thinking of putting poison food on the yard, but their bodies might scatter on the yard.

Help would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[lyndatu]

Oh, and heavily chicken wired; I mean even the coop is heavily wired! WAAAH! CHICKEN WIRE!

Thanks for the help, jjthink! I hate those cats! Mice, well, I hate them too! They better not mess with my coop! (and my chickens)

 

[jkcove08]

If your chicken wire is just the plastic kind I would get hardwire cloth and place that over the outside of the chicken wire. No need to take the other off. I would not leave poisen around the yard since if the chicks should get out for any reason they might eat it and would die too. Also depending on how much poisen the rats ate and then something ate them it would also die. If you do feel the need to put out poison then I would find where they travel from the droppings and then place it in hidden locations along that route. This way they will take it back to the den and die there. Cats will go after chicks right away. I have to take all chicks from the hens when hatched out since the cats will wait for a chick to stray from mom and then grab it. They will chase the adults once in a while but dont go any farther then that. You still might have a problem with stays though, if they havent eaten lately they will probably go after a larger chicken. I would put the hardwire over the top, no use taking the other off. Jenn

 

[lyndatu]

Hmmmm.....

I think my chicken wire will do! It's stapled well to the frame! Thanks for all your help!

The only problem I have now are rats because I forgot to bury the fence deep into the ground!

Thank you for your usual kindness!

 

[jjthink]

Have you actually seen evidence of rats yet? If not (yippee!), you may be okay as long as the food is keep well sealed at night. This will also minimize mice.
I would never use poison for reasons stated above. Having witnessed unintended victims suffering a slow agonizing death from neighbors using poison, I can attest to how horrid it is.
Always best to just make the chickens areas as inpenetrable as possible. All the way around my chicken-wired outdoor run I placed chicken wire out about a foot along the top of the ground (picture a one foot wide path of chicken wire all the way around the run and butting up to it) and then covered the wire with heavy rocks or pieces of slate all the way around. This way if anyone wants in they have that much more digging to do before they get under the run. So far, nobody has tried. Because I don't have some of the predators others do I didn't bury the wire or use hardware cloth - in the daytime hawks and dogs are the only threat (the current system keeps them out) and at night the chickens are tucked safely inside their coop. My main problem is the worry about hawks and dogs when I let them free range, without which they would be suicidal from boredom.
All the best!
JJ

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

What kinds of predators do you have in the Philipines?

I grew up in Papua New Guinea, in the south Pacific, and cats, small dogs, and pigs were the only predators there to trouble our chickens. A coop made of strong metal chicken wire was all we needed there. So, if the Philipines is similar, it should be OK.

 

[rooster-red]

I know there are dogs there, they can get through chicken wire with no problem.