# flight pen floor ?



## fishbone (Nov 24, 2013)

*flight pen floor material ?*

hi,
i'm building a small flight pen 4' x 2' floor size for a couple of breeding homers.
is 1/2'' x 1/2'' hardware cloth a good material and size to use for the floor ?

the floor will be 4' off the ground and outside.

if not, what would be better ?

thx


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## Jr Brown (May 22, 2012)

I used 1/2" x 1/2" (hardware cloth)for the floors, sides, and tops of my flypens. My racing homers seem to do just fine on it and they are protected from hawks.


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## fishbone (Nov 24, 2013)

Jr Brown said:


> I used 1/2" x 1/2" (hardware cloth)for the floors, sides, and tops of my flypens. My racing homers seem to do just fine on it and they are protected from hawks.


great!
just wanted to make sure there feet liked the cloth.
i'll do the complete flypen with it then.

thx alot for your help,


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## fishbone (Nov 24, 2013)

can hawks or raccoons get thru chicken wire ?
i have it on the sides of another flypen, and have been thinking about it lately...
i do lock the birds in the loft for the night.


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

racoons will def manage to get through chicken wire. Also rats and mice can weedle their way through.


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

Hello. Believe it or not, a friend lost a young bird to a hawk while it rested by the 0.5 by 0.5 inch hardware cloth( some folks call it chicken wire). So putting a 2 by 4 wood next to the wire as a perch is not hawk proof. Because the bird was strangled to death. I could not believe it until i saw the blood on the inside of wire.


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

locally we call it chicken wire also but that is incorrect.

Chicken wire is the hexagonal mesh relatively large holes, and very flexible, not that tough.

Hardware cloth is quite rigid, square or rectangular holes and the harder wires are very tough. We also call this rabbit wire.

How on earth did a hawk manage to get his claw through a 0.5 x 0.5 inch wire??? That must have been a tiny tiny hawk


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Just saw this thread. Chicken wire ................anything can and will reach through. They can and have grabbed birds resting near the wire. Even hardware cloth, a hawk can fly to the wire quickly and catch a resting bird off guard, and hook his claws into them. I have birds that do sometimes sit right up next to the hardware cloth in the aviary, so I ran plexiglass, a few inches high, along the front and side of the aviary where they perch. Nothing can reach in there now.


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## Shadybug Lofts (Mar 13, 2010)

I would use 1/2 x 1 wire on the floor The reason is the droppings fall through better. If you ever had to clean caked on droppings off of wire you know what i mean. I don't think they drop through 1/2 x 1/2 wire as well.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You're right of course, in that the droppings don't go through as well with 1/2 X 1/2 wire, but with the larger wire animals can reach up through, so unless underneath the aviary is closed off from other animals, it isn't as safe. Someones dog on here a while back was able to pull his pigeons legs right off through the wire with larger holes. Also rodents can get in.


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## mookeeman (Dec 11, 2008)

*my loft*

I have 2 flight pens on my loft well I guess its 2 lofts in 1 building I havr a young bird loft on the left and breeders on the right I hope this helps you out I always like a visual..


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Nice. I like the idea of the fencing under the aviary. Good idea.


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## mookeeman (Dec 11, 2008)

Jay3 said:


> Nice. I like the idea of the fencing under the aviary. Good idea.


yea its to keep our dogs out.. the other side will be fenced in in the spring.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I was thinking a flight pen was large enough for flight so a flooring for that can be different. if the aviary is up off the ground I would use wire for the floor so the droppings fall through. they can also bath in there and not get their loft wet it drys quick because of the the wire bottom.


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