Wire bottom and/or landscape cloth... HELP!

[countryduck]

I have a question for anyone who can help. This is our first year square foot gardening and we are building a total of 6 - 4'x8' raised beds. We have just completed building a chicken tractor per Patti's plans. We plan to put our chickens in the tractor on one of the beds from now until the end of the summer because all of our other beds will be tied up with various plants. We were already planning to put landscape cloth down so as to keep out weeds. I see that Patti recommends putting hardware cloth or wire on the bottom of the raised beds. Why is this? Also, how can I do both? It seems the wire could/will eventually tear the expensive landscape cloth. I should add that we live in the country and have a mix of sand and clay soil.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[plantoneonme]

I think what is meant is to put the hardward cloth on the bottom of the raised beds not the chicken tractor. This keeps vermin from digging into the beds and up into the tractor. The chicken tractor fits just inside the frame of the raised bed. The chickens can then work the soil inside the raised bed for you. If you put wire on the bottom of the tractor iteslf, the chickens will not be able to scratch around in the soil. The only benefit is that you can place the tractor on the ground where you don't have a garden and no vermin can get inside...HTH. Kim

[countryduck]

I think what is meant is to put the hardward cloth on the bottom of the raised beds not the chicken tractor. This keeps vermin from digging into the beds and up into the tractor. The chicken tractor fits just inside the frame of the raised bed. The chickens can then work the soil inside the raised bed for you. If you put wire on the bottom of the tractor iteslf, the chickens will not be able to scratch around in the soil. The only benefit is that you can place the tractor on the ground where you don't have a garden and no vermin can get inside...HTH. Kim


Thanks for replying. I understand that the wire is for the raised bed and not the tractor itself. My question was if I put down landscape cloth on the ground, my raised bed on top and then my tractor sitting inside the bed, do I really need the wire? We have never seen a mole or anything here. The beds will actually be in what used to be my row garden. Does anymore here use landscape cloth and wire under their beds?

[shebear]

Then you probably don't need the wire. It's just to keep things from burrowing in.

[Kevin]

Hey country duck, I built my beds with no bottom wire mainly because I intend to use a small tiller in them before I plant . The draw back of this is my girls have gotten out a couple of times. Be aware a full grown chicken can dig a fairly big hole . This is not that big of a problem since the yard is completely fenced and my dashhound is smaller than the hens and is afraid of them.Also I did not raise my young chicks in these wireless bottom beds .I raised them in a separate completely enclosed coop . most smaller vermin wont mess with a full grown bird but they can wreak havoc on young chicks.

[plantoneonme]

I didn't use either on the bottom of my beds...didn't need the wire anyway. I used a thick layer of cardboard....newspaper works great also. The cardboard smothered the grass well enough and I didn't have any later in the year either. The worms can also freely get into the beds and they love to eat the cardboard as well....I'm pretty sure the worms could not get in or out with the landscape fabric in place. By the end of the season my raised beds were FILLED with worms!

Kim

[KingCoops]

Go with a wire bottom, prdators like racoons can dig undernieth but cant get through if you have a wire bottom

[Fred's Fine Fowl]

I think there are a couple of conversations going on here at once?

The question, as I read it is... if screen, hardware cloth or wire should be placed beneath the raised garden beds... not the chicken tractors? And this has nothing to do with predators towards chickens, but rather garden tunneling raiders.

A chicken tractor is defeated in it's purpose if there is a wire bottom. The very design is for the chickens to have open access to the soil so they can work it and contribute to it's content. A wire bottom wouldn't be practical in this particular application.

In the raised bed situation, where the chicken tractor is placed squarely on the 4 x 8 bed, chicken predators are really not a concern and probably wouldn't dig under the raised bed in order to access the chickens. If anything, raccoons would pull at the sides of the tractor rather than tunnel?

If you were concerned that the night scavengers may try to shift the tractor off the bed frame, then possibly a eye bolt or something similar may be used to strap the tractor more securely to the frame upon which it sits? I can imagine there are any number of innovations where that is concerned.

The chicken tractor should have a roost area that can be closed and structurally secure enough to prevent night invasion by small to medium sized predators.

I hope this clears things up a little? Don't forget that night-guard flashing lights also do a wonderful job, but can be a bit pricey if you require several of them. They can be attached to the chicken tractor and would then always be with the unit as you move it from raised bed to raised bed.

Good Luck!

Fred.... oh, if you're interested, this is the nite-guard site:

http://www.niteguard.com/ I have no stake in this company, I simply know it works and would like to share it. (">

[goplayallie]

Thanks Fred,

I found that information helpful.:D