Here's a quick question about chicken coops.
I am building mine now and was wondering what size hardware cloth to use for the run...1" , 3/4" , 1/2" ?

The smallest you can afford if you'll have chicks - snakes have super powers, but 3/4 works well for the Moms. If the coop is one of the suspended designs (either up in the air or with lettuces/weeds grown under it to keep some of the chicken yard in controlled feed), a smaller mesh or overlapping a 1" mesh is easier on their feet.

Geez, I hadn't thought about snakes!
We have a few living here, although they are just small garden snakes and feed on mice and small frogs.
I will be starting with chicks, but they will be in an indoor brooder until feathered out, so likely too big for our little snakes.
The coop will sit on the ground so a layer of hardware cloth on the bottom is a must to prevent predators from digging up and into the run.
Interestingly, the 1" and 3/4" are the same price, while the 1/2" is almost double.

We're from snake country, and periodically something has gotten in and then can't get out with an egg or chick in its gullet, or rattler will be looking around for pests and end up biting a bird that has spazzed. The teeny tiny rattlers seem to realize that the chickens, especially, seemed to KNOW they are a direct descendent of T-Rex and will go after them right back, so they tend to be real still and real selective about when they go hunting in the coop, but there were a couple of bigger guys along the way.

We try to save the little snakes and the lizards from the ducks, when we see them go into wolf mode, because they eat the pests. (Moms no longer runs chickens.) We do pay a lot of attention though, because the bedding and warmth attracts them in and under the coop, and tends to attract mice which then attract other predators.

She has to come up about 3' on the sides with the mesh in the main coop and in the back where there's airflow to the boxes, too, to try and keep raccoons and possums from reaching through to grab a wing or leg or head and pull it through. In the south, they'll wreck birds even if they can't get the whole thing out. The 3/4" diamonds/hexagons over a 2x4" rectangular link used for the rest of the coop worked pretty much perfectly for her.

I guess that's like the snakes and might be more of a location thing. If you don't have anything that will reach through when the idiots crowd into a corner, or dogs that do not live inside and will protect them at night, the larger link on its own is probably fine.

Something is trying to dig under my chicken coop...

Has anyone else seen this and know what I have to deal with?

need to make your photo smaller at almost 3 MIB, I can`t even download it to see it 🙂

There's more info http://thepreparedcanadian.blogspot.com/2014/09/predator-problem-at-chicken-coop.html

D:
Got any footprints in the loosened soil?
They're hard to pick up in pics sometimes, so you can sometimes dust them with powdered sugar or flour to help them stand out (easier to see the depth and from that the shape).

Also, is the deep end of the hole toward the lower right of the picture, or is that my eyes?

Predators that both dig and try the fences tend to be dog, coyote, fox, raccoon or possum, not that that's overly helpful.
Delicate fence nibbling and lack of a deep hole strikes me as raccoon, but I don't really want to make that guess without a footprint and I can't tell what's depression and what's rock and what's just thinner soil even in the big pic.
Foxes will give wire tugs with teeth or claws, but will go down-down in their attempts to dig a lot of times. Could be it was just interrupted enough to stop for the night.
I'm not from a part of the world where I know what badger or wolverine livestock raiding attempts look like. Do you have those?

Since it's not afraid of the space, you can try marking the area with predator urine (cat or coyote, but not the ones for the females in heat) or lay a low electrified wire, or spend $150-250 on some electric bird net/fence (less if you have convertible supplies like posts, battery, connectors already).

Most U.S. counties or state game agencies will also let you get a live trap if you claim a raccoon problem. They let you sign it out for a week or so, it gets baited, you turn over the live critter and the trap. Anything like that there?
Note: Sometimes when you trap and relocate one, three more expand and fight over the territory for a while.

Good luck, boss man!

The most likely in your list would be raccoon, as we do have plenty of them here. We also have fox, but I would expect a bigger hole to be dug for that.
I unfortunately disturbed the pile of soil before checking for footprints...it's right outside the back door, and you kind of step on it before you notice it.
It is likely that the security light chased him away before he got too far.
I'll be keeping watch this evening around dusk.

Racoon is possible but so is fisher, I would trap the area and see what you get..

Could even be a local smaller dog looking for 'entertainment' or a free meal.

Princess Auto (if you have one there) had traps of all sizes at reasonable prices.
Live traps so if it's someone's 'pet' then you can release it.
Or best yet, find the owner and make them aware of what sweet little pooch is up to, that could cost them $'s if pooch is successful in getting in there.

If not at pet, then you can still take care of it.

Good luck.

So yesterday's weather created a lot of issues.
Here, we got about 6" of snow followed by freezing rain, followed by rain, back to freezing rain....you get the picture.
Because the temps were above zero for a while then dropped overnight, my chicken run floor is now a sheet of ice!
Any advice on how to melt that...or even if I should?

Hello Denob,

If you have it, I would recommend a couple inches of peat moss over the ice and then your normal bedding about a inch or two on top of that.. the peat will absorb the water as it melts, heat up and compost in place.. and just keep the top bedding up so they have a dry footing to walk on, and they will roast up high, no way to melt out the floor without way to much work. The peat moss will do all the work for you when it warms up and melts out. the birds will dig it though and it will make amazing compost for garden use down the road.

Hello Denob,

If you have it, I would recommend a couple inches of peat moss over the ice and then your normal bedding about a inch or two on top of that.. the peat will absorb the water as it melts, heat up and compost in place.. and just keep the top bedding up so they have a dry footing to walk on, and they will roast up high, no way to melt out the floor without way to much work. The peat moss will do all the work for you when it warms up and melts out. the birds will dig it though and it will make amazing compost for garden use down the road.

Thanks FG...I have to go out to the Co-op tomorrow to replenish my salt and calcium chloride supplies so I'll pick up a bale then.
How would peat moss work as winter bedding inside the coop?