How to cover run to protect from aerial predators?

[journey137]

We have a nice big hoop coop for our birds and we intended to let them free range daily. Unfortunately over the past year that we've had chickens, the hawks and eagles noticed our plans. The chickens only get out of their coop supervised for an hour a day if they're lucky since we immediately put them back up when we notice birds of prey in our air space. We have now decided to build a run for them. It will be somewhere around 40'x40' to 50'x50', the exact size has yet to be determined, but we definitely want to put some netting or something over it to prevent losses. How do we cover such a large area effectively and still be able to have space under it for someone over 6' to walk freely?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

We have a nice big hoop coop for our birds and we intended to let them free range daily. Unfortunately over the past year that we've had chickens, the hawks and eagles noticed our plans. The chickens only get out of their coop supervised for an hour a day if they're lucky since we immediately put them back up when we notice birds of prey in our air space. We have now decided to build a run for them. It will be somewhere around 40'x40' to 50'x50', the exact size has yet to be determined, but we definitely want to put some netting or something over it to prevent losses. How do we cover such a large area effectively and still be able to have space under it for someone over 6' to walk freely?

 

[3KillerBs]

There are a number of people here who use bird netting to protect from aerial predators. They say it has to be the strong kind because hawks can crash straight through the lightweight netting.

 

[janiedoe]

Rather than try and cover a space that large, you could just offer plenty of cover with pallets raised on blocks or a few pergola type structures. If your seriously set on covering it completely, you could put a ( big post ) in the middle and cover it teepee style with netting or chicken wire.
You'll still have to lock them in at night and maybe add hot wire for ground predators.

 

[PolishAllTheWay]

There are a number of people here who use bird netting to protect from aerial predators. They say it has to be the strong kind because hawks can crash straight through the lightweight netting.

I used bird netting and didn’t lose a single one, to hawks anyways

 

[Grandmas Coop]

We have lots of Eagles, Hawks, Ravens,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/building-our-new-coop-deep-mulch.861352/

See the outdoor roosts---


See where we put the wide ?? I dont know what its called, wide slot fence from the top of the posts down, then from the ground up to the base of the roosts is the hard wire cloth


WELL--- we didnt count on a cooper hawk landing on the fence and crawling through the fence and walking on the roost!





So after the trauma of that incident , my husband went out and put chicken wire all the rest of the way up to the top- all the way around the coop

 

[danceswithronin]

Our entire run is built out with lumber and covered with hog paneling so no aerial predator worries. It has a six-post construction with 2x4 planks overlaying the top that are stapled down with wire.

It's also dug in at the bottom with wire too to deter burrowing predators, but I have dogs in the yard and a six-foot privacy fence so hawks are my biggest predator concern where I'm at (and they are everywhere). Redtail hawks and other small hawks are already attracted to my yard because I feed the local squirrels and I have about six bird feeders.

The whole thing cost six hundred bucks to have someone else build out (just labor, not lumber), so not cheap. But for me it was worth the investment to never have to worry about hawks, and I was too short to take on the work myself. I got a private contractor to do it.

I will say this - absolutely shell out for a top on your run that you don't have to lean to get into, because I used a droopy bird netting to cover my run the first year (plus I only had short four-foot wrought iron fencing), and it was a massive pain in the you-know-what. I'd practically have to crawl in to inspect the coop. It didn't get cleaned as often either because I didn't want to have to slouch-crawl around in the run, especially when it got wet or during winter. I also had a small flighty hen escape through the netting where it had worked loose and get killed by one of the dogs.

Now I can just walk straight into the run and do my thing, no crouching necessary. No escape worries. Major quality-of-life improvement and MUCH easier to maintain. Plus it just looks nice too.

 

[DuckinMadHouse]

The bird netting on Amazon is cheap and has worked for me for hawks. My outdoor run is 35x40x7 with 3 ft hardware cloth around the sides bottom. I got a 50x50 piece and haven't had air strikes since. I string the support poles with coated clothesline cables, built a tower in the middle for them to roost on and keep the net from drooping, strung with cable to the outside supports. We also have pallet hides for them.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Case in point***
I just took some wash out to the laundry shed, I could hear the screeech, and to the left and the right and I at first could not see where "It" was, I knew it was eather a hawk or eagle so I headed to the coop---- sounding like a nut I gave the red alert rooster alarm sound and my Rooster went heads up and chimed in, all the hens ran for the coop, I looked up to find where it was, and, sure enough!!! 3 eagles were flying in a circle up above, then they went wide and then a smaller circle, of course with all the noise my 2 dogs came charging out the screen door with BIG DEEP barks,

Cover the run folks,

 

[Mellowmalt]

To me the hardest thing is finding cheap supports to stop everything sagging down.
Recently I saw someone throw out a real crappy kids swing and I'm not surprised they threw it out but I was thinking that would do perfectly to support overhead netting. It was basically just 2 hoops with the swing hanging between but it was tall and strong enough. Otherise any time I have looked for something similar to buy like a plant arch for example is very expensive for what it is..