Advice needed on burying hardware cloth around perimeter or beneath run

[Kristarose]

Hello,
I am a new chicken keeper in the process of building my chicken run. My run is 6 feet by 9 feet. I am unable to construct a predator apron because I do not have the 2 feet of space necessary to lay wire on three sides of my run (run is in the corner of yard backing up to a fence and have a moderately steep slope on one side). I am contemplating the following:
1) digging a 12” trench around the perimeter of my run to bury 1/2” hardware cloth OR
2) digging up 6” or so of the dirt within my run to bury hardware cloth
Can anyone make a suggestion on which route to go? I appreciate any advice/expertise! Thank you!

 

[Debbie292d]

I think we'd go the 12" outside route as the animal digging would get stopped sooner. Go wider where you can but if not, 1' might just do the job. Say it's a dog, raccoon, or weasel who can't get in so they start digging. You want them stopped asap.

On another note, 6x9 is a rather small run unless you just have a few chickens. Looks like a good one though!

Welcome to BYC!

 

[cavemanrich]

First,,, a couple of questions.
What is your location?? and the digging predator that you have concern with?
If you are going to go with the apron route, do it on the outside of run. Do your best, and it does not have to be 2 feet wide. I would just bury it (the flat horizontal wire) 4 to 6 inches below surface. Animal will start to dig at the base of vertical wire wall.
Ask anything else you are not sure of.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[perkolator]

Looks like a suburban backyard to me - I assume you don't have many predators compared to someone out on acreage, so the apron doesn't need to be as substantial.

In the pictured corner the exterior dirt is pretty high IMO; if adding HC skirt I'd excavate at least 6" more dirt from outside the run and taper the soil so it's not so tall and wanting to erode back toward the structure, then lay the HC flat across the ground and fill over. Personally I'd consider adding wood to the lower walls or concrete blocks etc. right there to hold the soil back from touching the structure itself.

Good luck

 

[Debbie292d]

Looks like a suburban backyard to me - I assume you don't have many predators compared to someone out on acreage, so the apron doesn't need to be as substantial.

In the pictured corner the exterior dirt is pretty high IMO; if adding HC skirt I'd excavate at least 6" more dirt from outside the run and taper the soil so it's not so tall and wanting to erode back toward the structure, then lay the HC flat across the ground and fill over. Personally I'd consider adding wood to the lower walls or concrete blocks etc. right there to hold the soil back from touching the structure itself.

Good luck

You're probably right in most situations, but I've heard here on BYC of people in towns and cities dealing with rats, weasels, bobcats, dogs, cats, coyotes, and raccoons.

 

[aart]

In the pictured corner the exterior dirt is pretty high IMO; if adding HC skirt I'd excavate at least 6" more dirt from outside the run and taper the soil so it's not so tall and wanting to erode back toward the structure, then lay the HC flat across the ground and fill over. Personally I'd consider adding wood to the lower walls or concrete blocks etc. right there to hold the soil back from touching the structure itself.

Ditto Dat.

 

[DAttard]

I did this over the wire

 

[McChooky]

Extend the hw cloth out as far as possible when space is limited and use 6-8" landscape staples to pin it to the ground.Cover it with dirt and/or gravel then lay pavers on top

 

[McChooky]

It would help to have a row of cinder blocks under the 2 x 4 to prevent it rotting .You also want to have a slope to the run so your run doesn't stay wet

 

[thistlewick]

It would help to have a row of cinder blocks under the 2 x 4 to prevent it rotting .You also want to have a slope to the run so your run doesn't stay wet

There is pressure treated wood that is intended for ground contact. I'm assuming they built it with this? It's super common.

Looks like a suburban backyard to me - I assume you don't have many predators compared to someone out on acreage, so the apron doesn't need to be as substantial.

I'm on 24 acres in super rural North Carolina and I've got *way less a predator load* that people in the suburbs. Animals out here have easy pickings and don't want to work too hard to get their food. They completely ignore my coop(s).