Using Chain link dog run as chicken run?

[TeePants]

Hi! After some mishaps and disappointment with some sick silkies we got locally, we're ready (almost) to get started with chickens again. The only thing left to do now is finish constructing their new coop/run.

I'm not good with tools or building plans or measuring (haha...that's an understatement), so I'm ordering a prefab coop but for a run we were hoping to use the 5ft x 10ft chain link dog run we already have! I went out and got a 25ft roll of 1/2in hardware cloth to secure it, but I was wondering...

1.) How much coverage does the hardware cloth need to have? The whole thing? Just the top and bottom sides? Should we bury some cloth around the outside of it to prevent digging, or can we just have it laying on the ground under some rocks or something?

2.) How should I secure it to the run? Cable ties? I'm worried a raccoon or something could chew through a cable tie. :/ I guess I could buy a spool of some metal wire and wire it on there but I'm worried about sharp bits poking out.

3.) We also have a 6ft privacy fence. Would it be safe to leave our hens (when they're older) out in the yard during the day, or do we need to keep them cooped up in their run all day?

Thanks! We're very excited.

 

[FireTigeris]

1) Depends on how tall your chickens are and where they roost. Taller then your chickens including on their roost. You need the top covered for many critters, coons, hawks, owls... BY the way the dog run is 5+5+10+10= perimeter = 30 feet, 25 feet will not be enough.

2) Cable ties degrade in sunlight- how much sun does your run get? I'd use 'j clamps' they are little pieces of metal that twist together using a special tool... they are seen on commercial bird and small animal cages already closed. They look like the letter j when open ...

3) Depends on if you are ok losing them to hawks, I have/had heavy breeds and the hawks would try to kill them and eat them right there. Roosters help... but my rooster at that time would face off a possum but would hide from a hawk...

Now my enclosure is mostly vermin proof, up till snakes and roof-rats

 

[TeePants]

Ugh, hawks. And yeah, they only had one roll left of the 3ftx25ft hardware cloth, I was assuming I would need more.

I just wanted to know if there was some way I could just let them have free range of the yard some days. :/

I will look up those j clamps, thanks!

 

[flewdacoop]

if it was mine i would do the whole thing top sides and all then you have no misshaps

 

[FireTigeris]

I have a floor instead of an apron.

 

[FireTigeris]

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail....ontent=13949&gclid=CNbD75XW7LACFQSynQoduDRhtw

J-clip tool

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=j+clips+cages

J-clips and tool required


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...=-1&keyword=vinyl+lattice+panel&storeId=10051

Vinyl lattice panel


There are 'skinny' j-clips also- can't seem to find them...

 

[RiddleMe]

I used kennel panels for my run, loved how easy they were to set up. Covered them with 2'x3" welded wire, then ran 1/2"x1/2" welded wire 2' out as an apron and up the inside 2'. I was able to get a really good deal on a 4' roll of the 1/2"x1/2" so I just cut it in half length wise. It was easier than trying to bend it at the base of the panels. I used hog rings to attach everything, just because I was able to get multiple bags of the rings plus the pliers at a garage sale dirt cheap. There's a pic below, this is before I expanded the run, it's now about 3 times the size. Another great thing about the kennel panels, it's easy to expand when chicken math hits and you find a good buy on Craigslist!

I also have 6' chain link around my property (all 5-1/2 acres) with a 4' cross fence and I free range my gals daily, all day. I have yet to have a loss, not saying it couldn't happen as we have any number of hawks in the area, but so far so good. I do have a ton of juniper trees, which have branches all the way to the ground, as well as a fair amount of brush/weed cover, so that probably helps a lot.

 

[FireTigeris]

Hog rings, I bet those are the skinny looking j-clips !!!

 

[1muttsfan]

I lost a chicken in a chain link fence, whatever got it bit it though the fence, and the bird went inside the coop and died. You would want 2-3" high hardware cloth on the sides. Burying the wire at the bottom is much more secure than an apron, as raccoons can figure out how to get under the wire, as others have found out to their sorrow.

You might consider heavy-weight poultry netting over the top, I found some on Ebay for not excessive $ and last fall watched a hawk bounce off it like a trampoline. Don't waste your money on the lighter weights though, a big hawk will go right through it.

I got c-clamps used for making small animal cages, you can buy them and j-clamps along with the tools you use on them at TSC. They work great for securing wire.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

If the coop is secure at night that's most of your worries, just putting hardware clothide the chain link isn't going to do much, save it for the coop. You can free range your chickens in your yard as long as you can protect them from dogs and cats and such, they will learn to hide from hawks, so if you has places they can hide and be safe, that's fine.