Official BYC Poll: Is your RUN Covered or Not?

[Alderen]

Our coop is covered. We have a lot of Hawks in our area and I'm afraid that they'll try to birdnap our girls. I'd like to start free-ranging them some during the day, however I am very concerned about the Hawks

 

[WingsysRoost]

Our coop is covered. We have a lot of Hawks in our area and I'm afraid that they'll try to birdnap our girls. I'd like to start free-ranging them some during the day, however I am very concerned about the Hawks

I feel your concern about hawks! I had two come by in less than twenty-four hours one weekend, one of which was sitting on the fence less than twelve feet from one of my (of course completely oblivious!) chickens. They aren't as much of a problem for me in the summer, but they start coming by looking for an easy meal the second the weather starts to get colder.

I have a bunch of aluminum foil wrapped around string stretched across my yard to deter them, since they don't like the shininess or the motion when the wind moves the string. The plan is to get a proper bird net for the chicken yard, so they are able to "free range" outside of their predator-proofed run with less worry about the hawks.

Having a covered run is definitely reassuring, that's for sure!

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My coop and run are both completely covered with a solid roof. When I add an extension, the extension will likely have a hardware cloth roof rather than a solid roof, so that I can try to grow some plants in part of the run.