Mesh Under Run

Hi!  My husband and I are installing a run to be attached to our hen house.  We are planning on putting 9 gauge 1/2 inch galvenized welded mesh underneath it, by digging up the sod and placing it under that and then replacing the sod over it.  We will be pulling the sides up out of the sod and connecting it to the sides of the mesh in the run.  I've been reading that the mesh should be 9-12 inches deep below the run.  Why is this?  That seems so very deep to me.  If the mesh is tough enough, and connected to the sides above ground, why does it need to be so deep under ground?  I just can't get my head around it!   

Welcome Little Red Hen
The reason it has to be so deep (9")is because it is to stop foxes burrowing under and into the run. 
One other thing you will need 19 gauge weld mesh.

I have a couple of questions for you.

• How big is your run going to be?
• How many chicken do you or are you planning of having?

Hhhhmmmm, never thought about the dust baths.  I guess I thought because I was going to provide a pan of loose sandy dirt for them that they wouldn't be making their own.  A bit innocent, huh?  Our run is going to be 2 and a half feet wide and 10 and a half feet long.  We are planning on 4 large chickens.  We really want our girls to enjoy themselves even when they aren't free-ranging in the back garden, so we will lower the 9 gauge mesh deeper in the ground. 

Thank you so much for the warm welcome!  It was definitely time to stop lurking! 

OOOppppss!  I meant 19 gauge mesh.  Silly me!  And we are going to put the mesh under the complete run as the hen house is above and I thought it would also deter rats. 

When we bought the unit it was advertised as big enough for 4-5 chickens.  Being novices, we just presumed that this was correct as all of the units from different companies that were approximately the same size and structure said 4-5 chickens.  Here we were thinking that if we added to the run (wood and mesh) that they would REALLY be happy.  As it turns out, even with the addition, it is only half the size we need.   

We could double the width of the run, over and above the additional length we are planning, and I believe that would sort it out, right?  Our back garden is small and that would take up about a fourth of it.  We are going to let the chickens free range whenever we are home and not at work.  They'd be shut up in the hen house at night. 

Thank you for this.  It sure is an eye-opener.  We read and read about keeping chickens.  The problem is, I'm American and am really struggling to get my head around the metric system in comparison to imperial.  I'm trying desparately to translate and compare.

Hi LRH

Welcome to the Hen House

As Roughlee has said the minimum is 1 square meter of run per hen.
Chickens not only like to eat grass they also like to scratch about in it Which makes a mess LOL
In the size you are describing the hens will get bored very easily if it's not moved often. Boredom can lead to other problems like the hens picking on one another!

Have you had a look through our Poultry information pages? There's loads of info there from worming your birds to chicken keeping courses

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?board=13.0

Also it might be an idea to make sure your garden is secure for when they are free ranging, foxes have a habit of turning up when you least expect

Sarah

 
 

Thanks so much for the conversions!   We live in a large estate and most gardens, like ours, have five to six foot fences.  That said, a half block away is a large farm with lots of fields.  The neighbourhood cats frequently walk the fences and I can hear one ungracefully going over our garden gate at night.  (At least I HOPE it's a cat!)  There are lots of cats about.  I've never seen any fox calling cards, but lots of hedge hog ones.  I can see that we are going to have to keep a really watchful eye out while our hens are free ranging. 

A two friends of mine in our estate have had chickens for many years and never had a problem with foxes.  A lady two houses away has an aviary outside and she hasn't either.  I guess the ? is should we bother with the grid under the run if we are going to be moving the whole lot every couple weeks.  Lots to think about. 

of course, if you can't make the ground floor area much bigger, then you can add layers.  Like have shelves or tables around the edge, and ladders and maybe upturned plantpots. we've also got some pieces of wood around the top of the run, nailed to the frame, that they like to climb up onto.  Our run is about 7feet high at the front going to 8ft high at the back, and we have several shelves and table-tops, so they can jump or fly up and down and run up the ladders etc.  It's little things like that that make it more interesting for them.