Chicken Yard Predator Proofing - Thoughts?

[WingsysRoost]

I have a chicken yard that currently consists of chain link attached to metal posts. It contains my covered coop and run, the small coop, and the chicken's greenhouse. I plan to have a net over top to reduce risk of flying predators. I'm thinking I should find one with small holes to stop any adventurous ground predators from trying to get in that way, and to stop all the smaller birds from coming in and eating all of the chicken feed. I'm not sure if this logic is faulty or not, though.

The chain link is, of course, not predator proof at all. I was thinking that I should run hardware cloth along the outside of and then under the ground, using the chain link as a frame. This is not going to work for the gate, but I have flat patio stones that I am going to put in front to stop any digging creatures.

I was thinking some kind of double gate system would work for the gate, like the kind that people do for aviaries. This would also make it easier to keep chickens inside when entering and leaving the yard, because there would be extra space and an additional gate. I could also make a frame almost next to the gate, with wood, and block the gaps that way. I'm not sure which would work best at this point, to be honest.

Does this seem like it could work as far as keeping them safe? Is there anything that I'm missing here?

Thank you in advance for any input!

 

[Debbie292d]

I have a chicken yard that currently consists of chain link attached to metal posts. It contains my covered coop and run, the small coop, and the chicken's greenhouse. I plan to have a net over top to reduce risk of flying predators. I'm thinking I should find one with small holes to stop any adventurous ground predators from trying to get in that way, and to stop all the smaller birds from coming in and eating all of the chicken feed. I'm not sure if this logic is faulty or not, though.

The chain link is, of course, not predator proof at all. I was thinking that I should run hardware cloth along the outside of and then under the ground, using the chain link as a frame. This is not going to work for the gate, but I have flat patio stones that I am going to put in front to stop any digging creatures.

I was thinking some kind of double gate system would work for the gate, like the kind that people do for aviaries. This would also make it easier to keep chickens inside when entering and leaving the yard, because there would be extra space and an additional gate. I could also make a frame almost next to the gate, with wood, and block the gaps that way. I'm not sure which would work best at this point, to be honest.

Does this seem like it could work as far as keeping them safe? Is there anything that I'm missing here?

Thank you in advance for any input!

Rather than digging your hardware cloth down into the ground, which is actually best, you can bend it at the bottom to come out a foot or so then cover it with your patio stones.

For the door of the fence, you could run the hardware cloth longer by a bit so it reaches the door post, then cover the edge of it with a plastic caulk or something so no sharp edges. I've also seen people strap a 1x1 or 2 with zip strips to the door posts to close the gaps as they are pretty big.

A picture would help us help you figure out what else to do but you're on the right track there. I love your double entrance idea, but in a pinch, could you make the door open to the inside so it pushes any chickens back away from the door? Most will get away from the door when you walk in.

 

[Penpal]

What types of predators have you had? If there have not been attacks from birds of prey you really don't need overhead protection. Owls will attack in the early spring, but if your chickens are in a closed coop at night it won't be a problem.

 

[WingsysRoost]

Rather than digging your hardware cloth down into the ground, which is actually best, you can bend it at the bottom to come out a foot or so then cover it with your patio stones.

For the door of the fence, you could run the hardware cloth longer by a bit so it reaches the door post, then cover the edge of it with a plastic caulk or something so no sharp edges. I've also seen people strap a 1x1 or 2 with zip strips to the door posts to close the gaps as they are pretty big.

A picture would help us help you figure out what else to do but you're on the right track there. I love your double entrance idea, but in a pinch, could you make the door open to the inside so it pushes any chickens back away from the door? Most will get away from the door when you walk in.

The patio stones would only be for in front of the gate, mostly because I think I only have enough spare to cover that much. I could buy more, but I'm trying to limit expense as much as I can. If I ran anything under the ground while connected to the gate, the gate wouldn't be able to open anymore, hence my thought of using the patio stones there instead. I would run the hardware cloth underground along the fence everywhere else.

I might have to cover with patio stones as a temporary solution at least for the winter, because I'm not sure I'll be able to get enough hardware cloth before the ground actually freezes and I can't dig anymore. I could attach it above the ground, at least, and then remove the patio stones in the spring and bury it properly.

Thank you for the suggestions on the gate! The suggestion of covering the edges with caulk or something similar is extremely helpful, as I'll need something to cover the edges of the hardware cloth at the top of the fence as well. I was thinking maybe a wood frame and anchor it to that, but again, that would get expensive very fast. I'm not entirely sure how sturdy anchoring the bird netting directly to the combined hardware cloth and chain link is going to be, but I guess I will find out and then go from there if it turns out to be not sturdy enough.

I guess I could also attach any piece of hardware cloth on the gate to a wood frame, then make another wood frame that would be attached to the fence on either side, so that they would sit together when closed. That might make it sturdier and would probably be less effort. lol I do love my double gate idea, though. Either way, I want a wood frame that is taller than my chain link gate, because my chain link gate is only 4 feet. My bird netting is going to have to be attached somewhere, and I don't want to have to keep removing it and putting it back (if attached directly to the gate) or duck under it (if attached to a short frame).

Honestly, not having to worry about chickens escaping is a secondary benefit. If they rush me, it is usually because I have treats, and they will follow me back into the yard quickly. I mostly have the gate opening outward as an extra safety feature, because I have dogs that are not very safe around chickens and might try to get in.

Thank you so much for your input!

 

[WingsysRoost]

What types of predators have you had? If there have not been attacks from birds of prey you really don't need overhead protection. Owls will attack in the early spring, but if your chickens are in a closed coop at night it won't be a problem.

Surprisingly, most losses so far have been due to illness. I say most because I did lose a chicken last week Thursday, potentially due to a hawk attack. I do think that she may have passed from illness because of the fact that there were no obvious signs of struggle and it did not look like I would expect a typical attack to look like (and she had been showing signs like she was maybe developing an issue). Since there was a hawk seen in that exact area shortly after, it is still suspect.

I definitely think the netting is essential, because the hawks can be quite bold in coming close even when people are outside with the chickens. Somewhat recently, one was sitting on the fence less than twelve feet from one of the chickens, just watching. Luckily, I happened to be looking out the window and saw what was going on before it could make the choice to attack, but definitely not something I wanted to see when I was checking on them!

In addition, I have seen opossums, foxes, skunks, raccoons, and something that was either a weasel or a mink in my yard. I hear coyotes, and have seen them on occasion, though I highly doubt that one would come so close to the house unless there was something seriously wrong with it or it was genuinely starving.

 

[fuzzi]

I would second the hardware cloth apron suggestion, it's what I did and it has worked.

I was told that laying blocks down doesn't keep predators from digging under, as they can see where not to dig. Grass grows through the hardware cloth so the predators don't realize why they can't burrow under.

My run door opens outward as I use deep litter in the run and the chickens can (and do!) scratch mountains of litter against the door. Also, if you get snow it might make it hard to access the run if there's several inches of snow behind the door.

Addendum: here's a link to my coop build timeline, including how I did HWC (hardware cloth) around the edge, and added to the door:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/post-27236743

 

[WingsysRoost]

I would second the hardware cloth apron suggestion, it's what I did and it has worked.

I was told that laying blocks down doesn't keep predators from digging under, as they can see where not to dig. Grass grows through the hardware cloth so the predators don't realize why they can't burrow under.

My run door opens outward as I use deep litter in the run and the chickens can (and do!) scratch mountains of litter against the door. Also, if you get snow it might make it hard to access the run if there's several inches of snow behind the door.

Addendum: here's a link to my coop build timeline, including how I did HWC (hardware cloth) around the edge, and added to the door:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/post-27236743

Thank you for the link to your coop build! I will definitely have to check it out.

Do you think using the stones would matter if I had a wood frame around them? I would likely build a wood frame around it in the same way their run door is built (cement blocks, horizontal wood attached to that, and then the vertical pieces attached on top).

...Actually, maybe I should just duplicate the run door construction for this gate. I can run the hardware cloth apron under the ground everywhere, and that way, I will be able to skip the stones entirely if I want.

I could definitely see snow becoming a problem, so that's another point in favor of making sure the gate opens outwards.

 

[WingsysRoost]

I will have to do a sort of "reverse apron" on the back side, since it is built basically right next to the neighbor's fence. My only concern here is that the chickens might dig up the hardware cloth with their scratching, so I'm thinking that I should maybe put patio stones over it and then possibly cover with mulch so that the stones aren't visible.

I could technically bring the fence inward slightly, but a little bit would make it very inconvenient to maintain the area in between and a lot would drastically reduce their space, which I don't want to do.

 

[aart]

I will have to do a sort of "reverse apron" on the back side, since it is built basically right next to the neighbor's fence.

You mean the apron would be inside the run?
That will not deter predators from digging in under the apron.
Being against the neighbors fence is not good, you need to access the side of your run and they need to be able to access their fence for maintenance.

 

[WingsysRoost]

You mean the apron would be inside the run?
That will not deter predators from digging in under the apron.
Being against the neighbors fence is not good, you need to access the side of your run and they need to be able to access their fence for maintenance.

It is their chicken yard that I am trying to run an apron around, not their run. They have their roofed coop and run (with predator precautions already added), with a larger area around it that fenced in chain link (not currently predator proofed). The larger fenced area is what I am talking about here. The neighbors are not blocked from accessing the fence at all, and it doesn't impact anything on my side. That's a good point, though, that it won't actually stop anything. I knew this was going to be the difficult part of this, but I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be.

I could add additional fence on my side, but then it creates a little corridor between that will likely become overgrown quickly in the summer since it will be difficult to access. It looks like that is what I will have to do, though, and just suffer through maintaining it as needed. There are space constraints that make it basically impossible to do anything else at this point, I think, unless there are any other effective options as far as predator proofing goes.

Thank you for your input!