I really like mom's idea of making a roost in the middle. Wish I had thought of that instead of the 10 foot middle pole. The C-clips should work great for attaching to your chain-link.
One other note, this year we had a pair of red-tailed hawks raise a baby not 50 yards from our coop/run and 20 feet from our front door. No chicken losses amazingly!
Oh yeah, my net has the 1 inch openings so it does trap leaves, but I just shake them off. I like the extra protection from the smaller holes since we have so many birds of prey (hawks, falcons, kestrels, owls) where I live.