Ok, I have two sheds that are inside the duck/goose pen that we have used in the past to raise ducks and chicks. I decided to clean out the innermost shed and set up a temp coop for the hens. If it ends up being a bad idea, so be it. I just have to do something. It's a good shed with a door...
I think his brother is the one pestering and killing MY flock! Seems they are SLY after all. Do they behave more like dogs or coons or what? They are smart for sure. Seems like we need a fully enclosed pen to protect the flock!!
Thank you for your condolences. I was thinking of putting chicken wire over the farm fencing. I don't know what would be better on top, barbed wire or electric wire. All of it sounds like lots of work. The fox downsized my flock from 14 to 5. Had two beautiful roosters too. :(
Well, the hens are still locked inside the coop for now. I actually saw the fox earlier today. I am afraid to let the hens out into the pen until this problem is solved. Would chickens get along with ducks and geese? The geese are great alarms and they keep the ducks in line. Their fence isn't...
Since there are only five hens left I'm thinking of abandoning the coop and run and buying one of these chicken coops with the run area, nest boxes, etc., all enclosed. Anyone recommend a good brand? They are quite expensive.
That is one of my ideas, but would a fox leap over that? How high can they jump? I'm sure Google knows. With my luck, I'd electrocute myself in the process. Maybe I can find someone who knows what they're doing ...
"Foxes can climb fences, and can even jump up to 15 feet in the air. However...
The coop is fine & very sturdy. I opened the coop door in the morning like always so they can run around in the pen. The pen fence is basic farm fencing. Apparently the fox climbed or jumped right over the 4ft fencing. Adding another row of fencing might deter them, but I don't know for sure...
After 17 years here without seeing any fox, one got into our chicken pen yesterday morning and killed all but five of our chickens, including two beautiful roosters! Just left their bodies right where they were killed. The five escaped by flying over the fence. I happened to see two of them by...
I took some pix today. Out here the farmlands get lots of 'lakes' when there's too much rain esp. after melting snow. Took a few pix of the set up. You can see the 'lake' to the left of the coop. The other pix is the slop, muck and mire surrounding the ramp that I have to slog through twice a day.
Glad I'm not the only one whose gone down in the muck and mire! No fun at all. Not that I'm glad it happened to you!
I think the ditch is a good idea in your situation with the slope but my land is flat where the pen is. Right now sand and gravel are looking like the best options for me now...
Good for you!! We also have a swamp for a chicken run and I'm out of ideas to get it dried out other than wait for summer! I've already slid down the short ramp and fell backwards right into the muck. Wearing boots to get from the gate to the coop door now. I have to DO something. Hubs is now...
We have four Weeder Geese who just recently hatched two goslings. They are in a decent sized enclosure but not predator proof. One gosling came up missing yesterday. We put the remaining gosling in a small hutch to raise for now. Meanwhile, we have a 'rehab' hutch that is critter proof where we...
Ok, I checked that foot/leg just now and was able to pull off the big ugly scabs that had formed and caused the joint to swell up. Some really ugly stuff was in there and some puss too. I got them all off and all the junk cleaned out. Then I filled the holes several times with hydrogen peroxide...
I believe that was the injured female. She still limps but is in her own hutch for now. I checked out the antibiotic but it is too expensive for now. The Pekin's leg looks really odd like bites? I will take a pix today & post.