Opinions/suggestions wanted

[chicks44]

coop halfway there. My husband has modified the playhouse coop and we have been in discussions about predator proofing it. It has a metal roof and will be completely surrounded by hardware cloth. The coop inside is up off the ground with a main door that locks and a door for egg collection. We are planning on putting the wire 12" down, using rocks and other materials to ward off digging. We will also lay a skirt around the outside and run the wire about a foot around on the inside. He happened to see a Fisher this morning and I know we have racoons. We are not planning on having an electric fence at this point. We don't want to spend any more money and we have young kids. Do you think this will be enough? Any more suggestions? Also, in terms of leaving the coop open at night, I mean obviously if we are home we will lock them in, but what if we go away for a bit? I want to have a life too!! Isn't having chickens supposed to be easy?! I feel a huge responsibility to these living things and don't want to put them in a home where they are dead ducks! Or chicks I mean.

Thanks for the input, this is a great resource.

 

[detali]

I never leave the coop door open at night! I live in coyote country.
What you are doing sounds good. One other suggestion you might consider is closing up the top of the chicken run. I have the top of my chicken run fenced off with deer netting so nothing can get in from over the top of the fence. Good luck.

 

[chicks44]

The hardware cloth will cover the entire thing including the top of the run, and the whole structure has a metal roof. Thanks!

 

[CMV]

It sounds like you are on the right track. If all your latches are secure (like able to be locked) you have a pretty good set-up. I have been known to occasionally fall asleep before the chickens get locked in for the night. I kick myself in the morning for forgetting to lock them up, but nothing has bothered them up to this point. That being said I also have dogs, a motion sensing light trained on the coop and run, and live in an area with abundant wildlife.

I used to think the large number of predators in my area was a downside, but I have revised my opinion because overall the predators are still vastly outnumbered by the number of prey animals. There are so many easy targets around that, I believe, the predators have deemed my chickens to be more work than they are worth. If you live in an area where human encroachment is limiting the food supply for predators, then you might have more problems than I do.

Occasionally leaving your coop open at night is probably not going to be a problem, but I wouldn't make a habit of it, and if something does happen you have no one to blame but yourself. You know the risks. That's how I look at it when I forget to lock mine at night.

 

[Jskip1]

I have left my coop open a few times and nothing happened, probably because I took good care of predator protecting it
if I understood your right, you would leave the coop open at night, but not all night, just when you are out for a bit and come home later at night
if that's it, I don't see a problem, just lock it when you come home, otherwise don't leave it open through the night too often, you never know

 

[Bizzybirdy]

I lock my chickens in every night.... I live in racoon country.

Only takes one time for havoc to be wreaked.

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

Sounds like you're going to have an excellent set up! If you can get ahold of some barbed wire, you may want to bury it along side the portion of hardwire cloth you're going to have below ground. If you know any farmers, they may have a portion of unused, leftover wire that you could get for cheap or maybe free, as I think it only comes in good size rolls and I know you don't want to spend any more money. Best of luck and be sure to update with pics!

 

[emilyweck]

It sounds like you are doing a great job! Not that you really need to improve on it, but maybe lining the bottom of the run with welded wire and covering with dirt. Your skirt of welded wire (and possibly barbed wire) should be enough, but this is just another suggestion incase you want one more layer of security. I have a setup very similar to yours and I did the extra welded wire. I live where there are possums and raccoons and know they can be very smart and determined. I didn't want to put it past them to dig to the edge of the skirting and go under the run from there. Good luck with your new girls! Post pic's if you get a chance!

 

[chicks44]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. This is a great resource!

 

[Uppity Peon]

It sounds as if you are covering your bases very well. The only additional suggestion I have would be to set a couple hav-a-heart traps near the coop. Any critters that get caught can be relocated to some remote corner of the county.