wire for flooring and roofing?

[kgatn]

I've just constructed a very cute new house for my girls and am trying to figure out the run. The house has no floor and is located under some large trees. It would be really hard to bury wire a foot into the ground. Can I place the house on top of chicken wire to prevent predators from tunneling? Do I have to cover the whole floor or just the perimeter of the building?

Can I do the same thing with the run? - have it sit on chicken wire? (I'm using 1/2x1/2 hardware for the sides). How about the top? I was thinking about using thick plastic deer netting. Should I worry about raccoons coming in through the top?

Ideally, I'd like the girls to be safe if I went out of town for a few days and left the house open to the run.

I'd appreciate any advice!!!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

An alternative to burying the wire a foot deep would be to go as far as you can and then bend it to go out away from the coop or run. This is what I had to do, due to rock.

Personally I wouldn't use chicken wire as it is easily broke though.

 

[Dawn419]

We use a chcicken wire or hardware cloth "skirt" around the outsides of our coops and runs. We didn't bury them either due to the red clay usually being more like concrete, than dirt. We just stake the wire down with garden staples (some store bought, some made from wire coat hangers).

Hardware cloth skirt...

Chicken wire skirt around the main coop/run...

Garden staples...

Hope this helps!

Dawn