Coach P
9 posts
Jan 31, 2005
6:46 AM
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Kit box flooring…for those of you that use wire mesh for the floors of your kit boxes what size wire to you use, ½ inch by ½ inch hardware cloth???? 1 inch by 1 inch welded wire??? What is best???
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Mother lode lofts
470 posts
Jan 31, 2005
7:26 AM
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Coach the 1/2 x 1/2 clogs up then its a real pain to clean (been there) best is 1 x 1 or 1 x 2, you must have it aninmal proof under it though, I use trays under mine.
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Siddiqir
161 posts
Jan 31, 2005
7:54 AM
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I have 1" x 1" welded wire. You can go with either 1" x 1" or 1" x 2" but make sure you get either 12 or 14 gauage welded wire it would not clogs up. Thanks, -Rauf
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Coach P
10 posts
Jan 31, 2005
8:00 AM
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What are you referring to animal proof....are you meaning something reaching up through the large wire openings and grabbing their legs???
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spinnerpigeon
9 posts
Jan 31, 2005
12:23 PM
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Coach,
Yes you will want to make sure that no animals can fit through the wire floor. Where I live it can be a real problem with weasles , as they can fit through very small openings. I would definently want a wood tray underneath the wire. Just my opinion.
Caleb
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highroller
82 posts
Jan 31, 2005
12:44 PM
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It's not just reaching up through and catching your birds that you want to watch out for. Mice in their feed tray is hazardous to their health too. I've seen mice go through 1/2" X 1/2" wire so be sure to keep it sealed up tight. I have my wire on 2 X 4s on top of the wood floor (which leaves 3 1/2" between the wire and wood floors)and lift off the wire floor to scoop out the droppings.
Dan
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Mother lode lofts
471 posts
Jan 31, 2005
1:39 PM
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Yes coach due to animals,coons, cats or what have you. They get under there at night and spook the birds and many end up on the floor.
A guy that I know just went through that after leaving the trays off that went under the wire, I wont go into deatail but lets just say he had a real mess and had o put down many fine birds.
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Coach P
13 posts
Jan 31, 2005
4:57 PM
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I think I will stay with my ½ x ½ hardware cloth, it takes a lot more cleaning with a wire brush but it is small enough to keep paws out…I don’t use a tray underneath, my kits boxes are about 3.5 feet above the ground and all open underneath, the sun hits it and I keep a litter underneath and rake it up quite often…this works best for me and not as much time spent cleaning…my kit boxes are always dry and never smell
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J_Star
191 posts
Jan 31, 2005
5:47 PM
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Coach,
My kit boxes are 2 and 1/2 feet above ground. What I did is build the legs of the kit box like a box. Connected the legs from the bottom with 2x4 horizontally for all sides. Then I covered all the sides by metal screen mesh. I used two 1x3 in the center horizontally all around the 4 sides parallel to each other with a 6” gap between them and built a tray. I left a small opening (without the mesh) for the tray from the front. When the tray is in place it pretty much closes the gap. This way I eliminate the mosquitoes, flies, rodents and other larger animals from going under or into the kit box. Actually it looks very neat and desirable to look at. I used all treated wood for the out side and painted the kit boxes to match the shed and the house color and trimmed it with white to eliminate it of being an eye sour.
As a base for the kit boxes I used 4x4 treated lumber and built it in a rectangular shape, laid it horizontally to the ground and screwed the legs to it. I left about 2” stick out from all sides. This way, when cutting the grass and trimming would not tear up the screen mesh. I used the 1x2 welded for flooring. It works best. I wish I had a digital camera; I would take a picture and post it.
Jay
Last Edited by J_Star on Jan 31, 2005 5:49 PM
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