La Casita Del Pollo - An Adventure

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The run size is great. Is the chicken wire working on for you?
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The chicken wire has worked out fine. I was somewhat concerned about racoons when I built it, but was already over budget, so the hardware cloth got put on hold. It quickly was apparent that it was all that was needed.

Even though we live in a meadow in the woods, we've had (fingers crossed) no predator problems in past 7 years. I've left them wide open overnight several times and no signs of disturbance. I started letting them forage last month and they love the edge of the woods, which made me nervous, but no losses so far. I have been told there are racoons in the woods, but the only animals that have gotten into our garbage in 15 years have been our dogs. I know that because they get caught on the security cameras. I give the dogs credit for keeping the predators at bay. The Russell Terrier/Pit Bull mix spends a lot of time in the woods chasing critters. The girls did come across a rabbit the other day. They chased it off. I've yet to see how they will react when deer come through the yard.
Love all the step-by-steps you put into this article. The only thing I'd like to see more, is how you predator-proofed your run.
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All I really did was secure all openings well, ran a second layer of chicken wire offset from the first at ground level and run the chicken wire a foot out from the run horizontally and pile rocks on that so predators quickly get frustrated if they try to dig under. This all turned out to be excessive, because I've left the treat door open overnight with no visitors (I credit three noisy dogs for that). We're surrounded by woods and have seen foxes on the drive and hear a lot of racoons, but never in the meadow where the house is situated.
Spectacular job of taking a poorly advertised tiny box and making a really nice spot for your chickens, you and your wife. I like the metal compost pile shelving idea. Actually, I like almost everything. A little worried about only chicken wire sides but maybe your predator problem is small.
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Despite being in the woods, it's been "What predator problem" (noisy dogs credited for that). The chicken wire at ground level has two layers offset, so racoons really can't get their arms through and with a foot of wire running under a bunch of rocks, digging under.
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