Rule #1: Chicken Wire Will NOT Protect Chickens
Chicken wire is great when used within protected enclosures, however most predators of chickens can quite easily get through a layer of chicken wire, so for the safety of your flock we would recommend using another type of fencing material such as 1/2″ hardware cloth.
Essential: Hardware Cloth
1/2″ Hardware cloth is the unanimously favored material as most critters can easily bite, claw through anything less.
Predators From Above
If your run has an open canopy your most birds of prey and clever raccoons, opossums and weasels can still get at your birds.
Locks or Clips
Some predators are extremely clever and can even figure out ways to open up relatively safe chicken coops. We have opted for a simple gate latch with an additional carabiner to lock our paddocks.
Additional Features
Water Source
Whether you replace with fresh water daily or setup a longer term solution your flock needs access to fresh water at all times.
Food
In our attempt to create a low-maintenance chicken coop we wanted the ability to feed our flock without the need of entering the run. With a couple pieces of plumbing PVC we were able to setup an quick system which allows us to fill our feeders without a lot of issues.
Roll-Away Nest box
Roll-away nest boxes are a great addition to any chicken coop. The ability to provide “clean” fresh eggs helps to reduce the time needed to prep the eggs into packaging.