How to Predator-Proof a Chicken Coop and Run

To predator proof a chicken coop, stack six layers: hardware cloth on every opening, a dig barrier at the base, a roof on the run, two-step latches, a door that shuts at dusk and a headcount every evening. Skip one and the next predator finds it. Predation is the most common cause of death in small flocks, so this is the work that pays back first.

This page is the plan for the whole coop and run, in the order I would do it. It fits a kit, a shed conversion or a scratch build. The mesh details live on the hardware cloth page, and the wider picture is in the predators hub.

Which predator is it?

Name the visitor first, because each predator beats a different layer. Here is how the common ones get in and which layer stops them, drawn from Oklahoma State, Colorado State and Maryland extension.

Chicks are the easiest targets on that list, so finish these layers before a new batch moves in. The guide to when chicks can go outside covers the age, the night temperature and the move.

The damage tells you who came. Oklahoma State’s clue list: a raccoon that returns every five to seven days and eats the head, crop and breast; an opossum that takes one bird and eats the abdomen; a weasel or mink that leaves tiny bite marks and several birds piled neatly; a fox or coyote that leaves almost nothing, so a headcount is the only evidence; a dog that mauls birds in daylight. Match the clue before you spend money.

Hardware cloth vs chicken wire

Use hardware cloth. Chicken wire keeps hens in, but a raccoon can reach through its openings, and reaching through is how it kills. Raccoons grab birds through the holes in a fence and eat only what fits through, which is usually the head (Oklahoma State).

The extension numbers are ceilings, not targets:

• You lose fewer birds with 1-by-2-inch or smaller welded wire than with the cheaper 2-by-3-inch mesh, and small mesh is the key where raccoons live (Colorado State).
• Oklahoma State wants windows and doors screened with poultry netting or hardware cloth with holes smaller than 1 inch.
• Keep gaps to ¼ inch or less where chickens roost to stop snakes (Maryland).

I’d buy to the small end of that range: ½-inch, 19-gauge, galvanized, welded hardware cloth on windows, vents, the apron and the lower walls of the run. 1-by-2-inch welded wire is the budget step down for upper walls if the run has a real roof. The gauge, the galvanizing and how many rolls to buy are all on the hardware cloth page.

Stop diggers: buried wire vs apron

Wire has to extend out from the base, because digging predators start at the fence line and work down. You can bury it in a trench or lay it flat on the ground as an apron; both work if they are wide or deep enough.

Extension services give a range, not one number:

The extension sheets give burial depths and no surface-apron width, so the 12 to 24 inch apron figure comes from keeper guides. Cornell’s 6 inches is the floor. I’d follow Penn State: 12 inches down and an outward toe, which makes a digger meet more wire.

For a new run, bury it:

1. Dig a trench along the fence line, 12 inches deep.
2. Fasten hardware cloth to the bottom of the wall and run it down the trench.
3. Turn the bottom about 6 inches outward, away from the run.
4. Backfill with coarse gravel over the buried wire, which discourages digging at the base (Penn State).

For a run that is already standing, lay an apron:

1. Cut hardware cloth to the run perimeter, 12 to 24 inches wide. Add 2 feet at each end of every side so the apron can run past the corners.
2. Fasten one edge to the base of the wall, with no gap between apron and wall. Use stainless or hot-dipped galvanized fasteners if the bottom plate is pressure-treated lumber.
3. Wrap every corner. Carry each side’s apron about 2 feet past the corner so the two sides overlap, and tie the overlap together. A digger working at a corner is where a butt joint fails.
4. Lay it flat and pin it down with sod staples, then cover it with soil or gravel, or let grass grow through it.

A few small tricks make the apron work. Never stop it right at the corner, because an animal digs in at the gap. Cut the end of each piece to leave 2 inch wire “fingers” and twist them around the overlapping piece, which joins the two without tools. Unroll the wire upside down so its curl presses it to the ground, staple it about an inch up the bottom plate every other mesh square, and pin the outer edge with sod staples. On pressure-treated lumber, use stainless steel staples, because the copper in the treated wood corrodes ordinary hardware. Twist every cut wire end so it points down where nobody steps on it. Left on grass and mowed around, the apron settles into the turf over time.

Some builders make aprons from 16-gauge, PVC-coated 2 by 3 inch fencing. That mesh stops a dog or fox digging, but a weasel or a young rat walks through a 2 by 3 inch opening, so stay with ½ inch hardware cloth at ground level.

Pavers or cinder blocks laid around the base do the same job and can look tidier, and you can plant flowers in the block cavities. Lay them over the apron, not instead of it, so a digger that gets past a block still meets wire.

Swipe sideways to see the whole figure, or open it full size.

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Which latch makes a chicken coop raccoon proof?

Use a latch that takes two separate moves, because raccoons work with their hands. The top answer in a 314-upvote r/BackYardChickens thread on what could take a full-size hen names raccoons, with their talent for opening latches singled out. I take that as the design brief: any latch you can flip with one thumb is a puzzle with an easy solution.

What I would put on every door, lid and hatch:

• A slide bolt plus a spring snap or carabiner clip, so one move is a slide and the other is a squeeze.
• A padlock or a pin through a hasp on the people door, if the bolt is within reach of the mesh.
• A second latch on nest-box lids and egg doors that open from outside. These count as doors.
• Hardware cloth screwed over every window and vent. Cover windows and doors with heavy-gauge mesh wire or screening whenever they are open (Penn State).

I would skip hook-and-eye latches, turn buttons and anything that closes by gravity. A predator that has to solve two things at once has a harder night.

Roof the run

Yes, roof the run. A cover keeps birds of prey out and prevents snakes, raccoons and feral cats from climbing in. Build one that also gives shade in summer (Oklahoma State).

The sheets give several ways to do it:

• Welded wire, chicken wire or game-bird netting over the whole run (Colorado State).
• A grid of wire or twine every 3 to 4 feet over the pen, which gives excellent protection from flying predators (Penn State).
• Fencing taller than 4 feet or a cover net against coyotes and bobcats (Colorado State).

Netting stops hawks. It will not stop a raccoon that climbs the fence and walks across it. If raccoons are on your list, and on most lists they are, build the roof from welded wire or hardware cloth on a frame and fasten it to the walls so no gap opens at the top. Treat loose netting as the budget version for runs that only face hawks.

How do you keep rats and snakes out of a chicken coop?

Close every gap bigger than ¼ inch, raise or seal the floor, and keep feed where rats cannot get it. Every opening bigger than ¼ inch where hens roost is a way in for something. Cover vents and windows with hardware cloth screwed to the frame, and close gaps around doors, eaves and wall joints.

The floor is the layer people forget:

• Raise the coop about a foot, keep the floor tight and patch holes (Colorado State). That keeps skunks from living underneath and takes away cover for rats and snakes.
• Build the base solid. Pour a concrete floor and start the walls of new buildings with one or two concrete blocks so rodents, snakes and predators cannot dig under (Penn State).
• Starve the rats. Rats and mice damage structures and burrow, which invites other predators in, so keep trash receptacles away and minimize open feed bins near the coop (Oklahoma State). A rat-proof chicken feeder handles the feeding station.

If the coop already sits on the ground, get hardware cloth under it or an apron around it before winter. A coop with a gap at the bottom is an open door. If rats already live in the coop, the guide to getting rid of rats in a chicken coop covers trapping and cleanup alongside the sealing.

Automatic doors and the dusk check

A door that closes at dusk fixes forgetfulness, not weak latches, so pair it with a nightly headcount. A locked enclosure at night matters most, when predation risk is highest, and most poultry learn to go in if you feed and water at dusk (Oklahoma State). Owls strike just before dark, so close the coop before dusk (Colorado State).

An automatic door buys you the schedule. See the best automatic chicken coop doors for picks, and read why auto doors fail before you trust one with the whole flock. Whatever closes the door, do the same check:

1. Count the birds, every night.
2. Confirm the pop door is shut and both latch steps are engaged.
3. Lock the run gate and nest-box lids.
4. Bring in or close up feed.
5. Remove dead birds and trash promptly so you do not attract scavenging predators (Oklahoma State). A keeper on X reported in October 2026 that a turkey carcass drew a skunk to the run after dark, and that the automatic coop door had already closed.

Lights are optional. A motion-sensor light over the run helps (Colorado State), but scare devices, lights included, are not effective long term (Oklahoma State). Owner stories cut both ways: one keeper on X credits motion-sensor spotlights with scaring off a fox and has had no predator trouble since, which is one yard, not a trial. Spend on wire first and add a light only as a bonus.

What predator-proofing costs

Plan for mesh to be the biggest line item, and price it by the square foot covered, not by the roll. I am not quoting a per-foot price here because mesh prices move; check the roll label and your store’s shelf. The materials list is stable:

One keeper in an r/BackYardChickens thread put the cost of doing it all properly at about $1,000 for a rural spot with plenty of predators. That is one owner’s number, not a benchmark; a small suburban coop with a short run will cost less. The chicken run guide helps you size the footprint, and coop kits are worth checking for how much of this they already include.

Written by Kyle

Kyle has kept backyard chickens on his own small farm for five years. He reads the extension research, the spec sheets and the owner complaints, then tells you what he would buy and what he would skip.

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