Chicken Pen on a Budget Part 2: Wire

So now you have the posts in the ground and the next stage is probably wire , but first I want to talk about another thing. Several of the animals that can kill your chickens or steal eggs can get in your pen by digging under it. So to prevent the majority of digging animals from getting in your pen you can put pieces of tin around the bottom of the pen. Dig a 1 to 2 inch trench around the pen. Now you want about a 1 foot tall piece of tin. We split a 2 foot tall section of tin in half and placed the sharp side in the trench ( this helps as any digging animal will most likely cut it's self digging under the tin. Hammer the tin to the posts and use something to connect the pieces of tin. We took a foot tall 2 by 4 and hammered it in the ground on the inside of the pen, then we hammered the tin to the 2 by 4.
So now we have the tin. Next one of the other expensive things to buy will be the wire.I advise buying 1 inch wire. I bought 2 inch chicken wire but I didn't realize that several things could get through it. Be very careful handling the wire. Use gloves when handling it and use a good pair of wire cutters to cut it. Now use staples to staple the wire to the posts. We used plastic cable ties to connect the wire to tin ( you can find cable ties in places like the Home Depot ). Now I put a top on my coop. Some people don't put tops on it but I highly recommend it as hawks can swoop in and kill the chickens. It also welcomes in many other predators such as weasels and even foxes from what I have read. We just spread more wire over the top and connected to the wire using more plastic cable ties. Finally I would recommend placing a sturdy screen all over the pen ( this will mostly prevent squirrels but believe me even when you think you've got it fixed those rats still find a way in ) and I have yet to find a way to keep snakes out of the pen.

Here are the sides of my chicken pen. Also its best to put screen on the top of the screen to. Attach to posts with staples and to wire and other screen with plastic cable ties. I hope that this has helped.
Keep checking for more posts. A little hint for the next one. A way to make a little extra cash.
Thanks for visiting.

Chickenman

Sorry for the delay. 

In my next post I will give some tips to make a few extra $ 
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Hey I added a few things to my Chicken Treat List.

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