marky mark Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Hi, we have a home made wooden hen house thats a bit like an ark but it only has a small run and so my hubby has been making an extension to the run so that they have alot more space! And in time we will get some omlet netting so that they can wander round other bits of the garden. Anyway, was just wondering what the best covering for the roof was for the run. Its a wooden frame about 2-3 foot high and part of it he has covered with wood so that they have some dry area and he was thinking of doing the rest in perspex and then the rest in chicken wire. He's using the perspex as we have some left overs and the whole run is made from a mish mash of left overs! Will chicken wire be ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I think chicken wire would be ok, I was watching that program called "its not easy being green" and they were using chicken wire there. im sure that it will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 A fox can easily bite through chicken wire I'm afraid. And if it could get on the roof it would do so......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky mark Posted June 17, 2007 Author Share Posted June 17, 2007 The way he has built it has made a couple of steps for the foxes to easily get onto the roof! I have persuaded against the chicken wire and he will use a plastic coated wire using a few layers so as to make the holes really small! And to be on the safe side we will continue to lock them away in their house at night so's to protect them throughout the night! I think for the run extension we will use the strong wire mesh! Thanks again for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTee Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 A fox can easily bite through chicken wire I'm afraid. And if it could get on the roof it would do so......... Oh dear, now you have me worried. I have just built a 30'x7' run in chicken wire including the roof - and we do have foxes. There is an earth just 3 gardens away. At night we always keep the chickens in the Eglu though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 If you're worried about foxes, add some wide-aperture weldmesh over the top of the chicken wire to 3' or so from the ground. That's what I did: chicken wire to stop things getting through, and mesh to stop things biting through! Although a 30' run will need quite a lot of mesh! Try MeshDirect - they seem to have good prices, and sell an excellent range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 thaks for that link John Ive been looking for some mesh both for under my compost bins and also for a mezzanine floor in my cube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 We used polycarbonate sheets. They are great - letting the light in & the rain out There are some piccy on the link below, hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTee Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 If you're worried about foxes, add some wide-aperture weldmesh over the top of the chicken wire to 3' or so from the ground. That's what I did: chicken wire to stop things getting through, and mesh to stop things biting through! Although a 30' run will need quite a lot of mesh! Try MeshDirect - they seem to have good prices, and sell an excellent range. Thanks for that John. I got my original mesh from Meshdirect, very good prices and next day delivery. I will have another look at them. I have a timber fence adjacent to one side of the run and am about to relocate the Eglu so that it sits at one end of the large run. and opens into it. That has cut my weldmesh requirement by half! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
