Run criticisms

[Krugerrand]

Better to use landscape staples to secure your anti-dig apron than those pavers.

Diggers will back up to the edge of whatever solid item they can see and start their tunnel there and the way you've placed the pavers the solid that they can see is just about at the edge of the wire.

What about large decorative rocks over hardware cloth? Would you expect them to try through or back up from them?

 

[3KillerBs]

What about large decorative rocks over hardware cloth? Would you expect them to try through or back up from them?

I don't have personal experience, but the people here with such experience say that they'll dig at the edge of a visible barrier.

Wire under the grass is invisible and presents no edge to dig at so that's what I'll be doing with my own apron.

 

[aart]

What about large decorative rocks over hardware cloth? Would you expect them to try through or back up from them?

It's best not to put anything on top of the apron...
...but let the grass/vegetation grow up thru it.
If you don't want to see it, or catch the mower on it, might want to bury it an inch or two.

 

[cjweaver13]

Tarp loaded with snow might get dicey.

Not too worried about that. The angle is pretty good, and if snow does get on I can just use a broom handle to lift up from the inside and remove that way.

 

[gtaus]

I would say moderate [predator pressure] at least. Mainly raccoons, weasels, fox, and maybe a coyote. From above just standard birds of prey as I have seen Hawks and actually just rescued a kestral (they shouldn't bother chickens) during a storm

I mainly worry about hawks and Bald Eagles during the day. Bird netting over the chicken run has deterred any aerial attacks. My 2X4 welded wire chicken run fence, without a predator apron, has been good enough to deter the occasional neighborhood dog that might pass through during the daytime. If the chickens go on alert, they all run back through the pop door and into the coop.

I lock my chickens up in their Fort Knox coop at night. Probably take a bear to get in that coop when locked up tight. Most of the nighttime predators cannot get into the coop. So far, no attacks in 2+ years.

As already mentioned, the predator apron probably works better just laying on the ground or maybe burying it an inch under the dirt if you plan on mowing there. The idea is that they might try to dig by the fence, hit the unseen predator apron, and then give up. From what I have read/heard, predators don't like to dig long tunnels (2 foot apron) because they fear they might get caught/trapped in the tunnel.

The 1/2 inch hardware cloth should keep out weasels, but do they hunt during the daytime? If you have a predator resistant coop, and lock your chickens up at night, that might be a better strategy. If you don't lock up your chickens at night, then the 2X4 welded wire fencing is not going to stop a weasel. I put most of my money into the Fort Knox chicken coop security because I was more worried about nighttime predators.

We have different predator concerns based on where we live. FWIW, your chicken run is a lot more secure than my chicken run. Nice job.

 

[McChooky]

You might want to drive a couple metal stakes in the corners and secure them to the metal corner posts of the run itself if its lightweight.The stouter it is the better it'll hold up in wind and snow or a big dog or coyote jumping on it. Some predators will leap on the side of a run and climb(foxes) . Alternating one strand of ground and hot wires protects you from predators that aren't on the ground (needed to complete the circuit)Anything touching the electric fence and climbing the side of the run would get shocked.