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- #11
- Mar 5, 2018
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Oh I am aware of the weasels! When I was a kid and had 50-60 chickens we were awakened in the middle of the night with such a raucus! My dad and I ran out to the chicken house, shotgun in hand, to find over 20 dead hens . . . and shortly thereafter one dead weasel. I will say say though, if that weasel had survived the "sudden and acute case of lead poisoning" he would have had a bit bigger hole to escape through! : )Ventilation is a must, no matter what the temperature. I am at 44.5 latitude, many sub zero nights here, and ventilation is extremely important, even in such temp. extremes. If you don't have the ventilation to remove the moisture released by the bird's respiration and their poop, you are going to have a lot of moist air which will result in frost bite. Windows can be picked up for free, at least in my area. Ventilation can be provided without creating draft. Also, you run the risk of predator loss with the "summer version" of your coop. A weasel can squeeze through any opening you could push a quarter through. It's your coop, your flock and your decision.
I have not seen or heard of weasels in this area, but I plan to do something for the summer - had two black snakes (both over 5ft long) last summer. I am considering 1/4 hardware cloth or something similar for summer. *** I know it was two different snakes, not the same one twice, because they also each caught a bad case of sudden and acute lead poisoning...