Planning to pound rebar around the bottom of my fence to prevent predators digging into the yard- wh

[Lesuko]

What is the smallest space predators can squeeze through? We have foxes, skunks, opossums, raccoons, cats, and of course rats and mice and all the things that fly. I doubt we can protect against mice and rats, but we were thinking of pounding rebar into the ground about 6" deep around a portion of our fence line that we'll use as a larger run area. The chickens (once we get them) will have this fence on 2 sides, house on one, and then something we'll have to make for about a 20' x 15' area. We will build a predator (hopefully) proof run that will be 6'x8' probably and they will always have access to this run. The larger run is just during the day while I'm working from home. Since this area is out of site, I'm not able to actually watch the chickens to make sure they're safe.

I'm in an urban area in Colorado so we don't have many regular pests but I've had raccoons, and either skunks or foxes (can smell them) in our yard. In the larger run area, there are no trees that predators can climb- though a few bushes on the neighbors side. I'm sure they can climb over fences. We will not have a roof on this larger run. Is there something else we can do to protect the area?

For our 6'x8' predator proofed run, we plan to use hardware cloth as recommended on this site. And, form a "L" shape that's 18" long and 12" deep into the ground. However, if we should fully enclose the run- have hardware cloth cover the entire bottom, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

[patvetzal]

A weasel can get thru ant hole that a red squirrel or chipmunk can get thru.....about 1"

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: It's a big waste of effort to bury wire, when you can acheive the same results simply laying it on the surface

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It will take a lot of re-rod pounded in 3/4 of an inch or less apart when 1 x 1/2 inch welded wire or 1/2 hardware cloth works so well.

 

[AlyssaK]

Supposedly guinea hens will pack together and kill rodents according to a couple of my friends that have flocks - they get a few guinea hens for that purpose.

I decided not to, because they are large (like peacock sized - same family) and like peafowl they are LOUD and evidently can fly well enough to get on a roof, and I'm still in the city last thing I need is a large bird of mine getting out and causing a ruckus, LOL.

Might be something you can do if you are more rural.

 

[ozarkchicks]

if you are going to put wire around the bottom of the run/coop then don't bury it, the wire will just rot, put it on the surface of the ground. a lot of things like weasels and snakes along with mice can fit in a 1" hole

 

[Lesuko]

Thanks everyone. We've abandoned the rebar idea and are instead going to enclose the run fully- ground and all. We plan to use welding wire (or welded wire) buried underground, covered with a layer of dirt and then 3-4" of sand. When/where or how the welded wire will meet the hardware cloth, we are not sure yet. However, everything above ground will be hardware cloth. Hopefully welded wire will not rust.

We don't have snakes (ones we need to worry about) or weasels here. For small stuff, it's mice, fox, possum, raccoons, and skunks; big stuff would be bears and mountain lions but I doubt you can protect against them. We do have lot's of falcons, crows, hawks, etc. that I'm worried about while letting them free range for a few hours some days. We are urban and have a small yard- but still next to a lot of open space.

Oh, chipmunks, what do they do to chickens?

Thanks for your ideas. We didn't think about hardware cloth rusting and that advice was incredibly helpful.

 

[DeerFangRanch]

For bears and mountain lions you have to have electric fence.
We have pic of a bear that wanted in, but respected the fence around out coop.
We are out in the mountains, but know bears as seen in urban areas alot more since the drought.

 

[Lesuko]

Above the Clouds- thanks. You are right in that bears are moving in closer to urban areas due to the drought. Our only hope here, and this is mean, is that there is about 1 mile of houses before we hit open space. If a bear was to meander through, we are betting that he'll hit some other houses with coops and beehives first and we'll know about his presence. Of course, this is a gamble. Ironically, only after you've had a bear attack will the City offer rebates on electric fences. We just can't afford it right now.