4' hardware cloth... and a run... best way?

[carsonsig]

OK, so I am going to build a run onto my coop.. going to about 4' front to back, probably 6' high and as far as it is to my lemon tree.

hardware cloth comes in 4' height... biggest I have found anyway... so do most people make their run and do "frames" every four feet, running the 4' width vertically...? or run the HW cloth horizontally and put a board down the middle running horizontally 4' off the ground?
Just looking for best practices... Dog prevention is my run's main job...

 

[jetdog]

Either way will work but I think its easier to work with it vertically.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

I'm having an issue with my ipad this morning, so if this post shows up twice, I'm sorry.

I guess it depends on the design of your run. Our run sides are 8' high. DH ran 2 courses of 48" hardware cloth horizontal. Here is a pic...

 

[Blooie]

We used 3 cattle panels to build our run. We drove 8 steel fence posts into the ground, 4 on each side, arched the cattle panels between them, and covered that with chicken wire to deter overheard predators. (Note to self - when we make the addition, attach the chicken wire before arching the panels into place!) Then we used the hardware cloth at the bottom 2' of the run all the way around. At the bottom, where it meets the ground, we folded the hardware cloth outward as an apron so we have a seamless barrier up two feet and out two feet. We used that strong, thin wire used for electric fencing and literally sewed the hardware cloth to the frame of the run, and at the bottom we used landscape fabric staples. The original plan was to cover the hardware cloth apron with flat rock, but the grass grew up so beautifully through the HC that we can mow right up to the edge of the run - a real advantage in depriving little pests of hidey-holes. This winter we covered the whole thing with clear plastic, ala greenhouse. Worked fantastic! We also ran hardware cloth around the bottom of the coop, securing it to the coop with large washers and screws and again, landscape fabric staples where it folds out to cover the ground.

This run has withstood digging, snow load, and 60+mph winds without a single issue. We are more than pleased. We will be making it one cattle panel longer, and all we have to do is remove the end cap of welded wire fencing on the south side, add two more fence posts, arch the panel, then replace the end. Best part of all was there wasn't much carpentry and it wasn't horribly expensive. Living on a fixed income, that was important to us.




The run in summer. The lattice is just for "purty".

And in winter.

 

[Chickenshoe]

basic structure stability- ie how you build it is more important than the direction the cloth is placed... anchor your corners deep in the ground, perhaps concrete em in.. use the coop to anchor it to also if you can, look at using landscape ties along the ground level, they are treated and offer solid base to connect to posts..2x4x? there on up...don't use a "staple gun" to connect the cloth, best way is to use a narrow crown 18 ga stapler (air compressor gun)... staple gun staples wont hold long...

 

[critta]

I think the most important thing is to design your frame so that your can make the hardware cloth work. If you do vertical or horizontal is really up to how you design the rest of the structure and what make sense. I ended up doing 6' walls with a 3' runner board like you described but that is because i designed it to run the wire like that.

 

[aart]

I'm having an issue with my ipad this morning, so if this post shows up twice, I'm sorry.

I guess it depends on the design of your run. Our run sides are 8' high. DH ran 2 courses of 48" hardware cloth horizontal. Here is a pic...

THAT makes perfect sense....and is a beautiful run!

 

[galvinj]

OK, so I am going to build a run onto my coop..  going to about 4' front to back, probably 6' high and as far as it is to my lemon tree. 

hardware cloth comes in 4' height... biggest I have found anyway... so do most people make their run and do "frames" every four feet, running the 4' width vertically...?  or run the HW cloth horizontally and put a board down the middle running horizontally 4' off the ground?
Just looking for best practices... Dog prevention is my run's  main job...

I built mine 2' on center and ran the cloth stud to stud its 90% complete in the pic

 

[Blooie]

Gosh, you are all so clever with how to use it! I was new enough when we built I just used it on the bottom and the ground. Great runs!!!