Burying chicken wire around run?

[phillychickens]

Hello, all.

I'm completely new to this, so forgive me if this is a silly question.

Some of my friends with chickens are very insistent that you have to dig down around the entire run and put chicken wire into the ground. I didn't do that when I set up my run because

a.) We were in a time crunch to adopt four adult birds from a friend who needed to get rid of them
b.) The run we built has a heavy wood base
c.) The run is not in a permanent location. I had to plunk it down where my vegetable garden usually is, because it will take me a while to get a giant old garage ripped down, jackhammer up the cement pad underneath and put their permanent run there.

But now I'm thinking it's going to be a while before we get the run moved, maybe even a year. I want the chickens to be safe.

What's the rationale for putting chicken wire into the ground? What predators will actually dig underneath a run? I think the most likely thing to dig underneath will be rats looking for the chicken scraps. Are rats my biggest concern?

And how deep down to do I have to go? One friend went 18 inches down and wrapped the wire around bricks at the bottom of the hole. That sounds like a huge amount of work.

Help!

Thanks in advance.

 

[MamaAB]

I would like to see what others say as well but I am pretty sure coons, cats, and even dogs would dig under a run to get to the chickens perhaps even stinky skunks!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

There are lots of predators that will dig around your run, too many to try and name here.

There are two options with stopping diggers, bury the fencing straight down or fan it out from the sides like an apron. Some lay the fencing on the ground around the run and just stake it down and let the grass grow up through it, others pull back the sod and put the fencing under the sod.
I am in the process of building my coop/run now and I plan on using the under sod apron method. But I also plan on not locking my birds in the coop every night and letting them out every morning(just lazy!!!), so that means my run needs to be extra secure. If you will be locking your girls in the coop every night then the digging predators becomes less of an issue.

for the temp setup use the staked down apron method, which can then be reused for the permanent setup later on.

consider not destroying the garage slab and just put the new coop on the slab with sand in the run, that will eliminate any digging issues for the future location.

 

[phillychickens]

Would they do it during the day, though? The chickens are in their coop at night, so the run just has to keep them safe during the day.

 

[cosbackyard]

Where I live I don't see the coons during the daytime. Dusk perhaps. Foxes, on the other hand, I have seen during the day.

Here's a pic of what I did with burying wire:




You can see some of it extending out like an apron, buried a few inches below the ground and secured at the corners with buried flagstone. It comes out between 14" and 18" horizontally.

 

[phillychickens]

Thanks, all. The apron method sounds very promising. I do have lots of raccoons, and my son saw a huge possum in our yard a few weeks ago.

But our chicken run is surrounded by chicken wire, not hardware mesh. I'm reading that that's a mistake, yes?

So worried that my hens will get killed while I'm trying to learn the ropes.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

it's not that chicken wire is a mistake, it's just "less" secure than HW cloth would be. The general rule of thumb is that chicken wire keeps chickens in but doesn't work as well to keep things out.

It's said that some of the stronger animals can tear through chicken wire for a free meal.

Few years ago I had a neighbor who built a A-frame coop and run, the run was chicken wire. Things started digging under the run and stealing chickens so he raised the whole unit up on blocks and put a plywood floor under the run. They never had any problems with things ripping through the chicken wire, but you never know.

This past winter I stepped outside my back door to see a skunk lurking around the shed door, then to my shock it slipped under the shed door into the shed. That opening was not much more than 2", but it was able to get right through that gap. I still shake my head when I look at that gap thinking about him slipping through that small opening. Made me much more careful to have as few and as small gaps as possible in my coop/run design.

 

[cosbackyard]

If you really want to upgrade the security you can just cover the chicken wire with a hardware cloth. It's more expensive, for sure, but also much more secure.
The trouble with chicken wire is two-fold. One, coons can and will reach through it and kill your birds. Two, I've had chicken wire torn by predators who broke in. It's crazy, but some are strong enough.

I think it all depends on what your local predator situation is and your night schedule. If they're just in the run during the day they might be okay as-is.

Tell you what, though - out here if I make one single mistake on one night my birds are toast. Colorado's rough.

 

[azygous]

I also live in Colorado. We have bears here. I have found it useful and effective to install galvanized steel hog panels over the chicken wire, with hardware cloth around the bottom.

The hardware cloth gets fanned out a few inches under the soil level all around. Under the door entrance, I fashioned a concrete sill so small predators can't squish themselves flat and squeeze under the door.

Of course, for good measure, I run a double row of hot wire all around the coops and run.

And a shotgun loaded with rubber shot at the handy.

 

[cosbackyard]

I also live in Colorado. We have bears here. I have found it useful and effective to install galvanized steel hog panels over the chicken wire, with hardware cloth around the bottom.

The hardware cloth gets fanned out a few inches under the soil level all around. Under the door entrance, I fashioned a concrete sill so small predators can't squish themselves flat and squeeze under the door.

Of course, for good measure, I run a double row of hot wire all around the coops and run.

And a shotgun loaded with rubber shot at the handy.

Haha, now that's hardcore!

What kind of small predators do you see? I haven't had anything smaller than a fox (our coons are bigger than fox.)