Advice needed about predators & chicken coops

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

We have a chain link fenced in yard for my niece and nephew to play in, and its where we are putting our chicken coop. It has 2 doors that I try to make sure get closed every night. I am putting chicken wire around the bottom of the coop, stapled to boards that run along the ground. Do you guys think that will be secure enough against any predators, along with being inside the chain link fence? or should I bury the chicken wire too?

 

[Jeremy128]

Hello! New member here myself, and new to chickens. I'm sure someone will come along soon that knows a lot more than me and give better advice... But here's my thoughts.
I assume the fence is a standard 4 or 5 foot tall fence. If so, it is not adequate to protect the chickens. Most dogs can hop that if they are motivated enough and hurt/kill them. Even a well intentioned dog wanting to play/chad them could find the activity of the chickens too powerful to resist. All cats can easily jump the fence. Raccoons and possums can climb the fence and make a meal of your chickens. The base of the fence is also vulnerable to dogs sliding under if they are motivated. If there is not a pole running the length of the fence, along the ground, a dog can slide underneath.
If it were me, I would not keep them fenced in standard chain link. It would be fine for grazing, provided you could be outside with them to keep an eye on them.

 

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

thanks. the fence is over my head & im 5 4.. i have a pitbull & shes a jumper so we have had to add quite a few extensions on it to keep her in. it was installed by a construction company, and its huge, like probably 50 or more ft by like 30ish feet.. thats a guess..i dont know the exact size. we had kept rabbits in there for years, but the cage for them was on stilts and they couldnt get near the ground. im pretty sure my dog has scared any potential cat threats away, we had stray cats for years and since ive been letting her play in the yard they are gone.
the chickens will be in a coop.. with a lil run that is protected by chicken wire and then the whole coop & run will be inside the chain link fence. i didnt think any predators could get in but i was reading other threads and Im not so sure again. This is my first experience with chickens and i would be devastated if they got eaten.

 

[pappy1264]

I am building my coop and run inside my 10x6x30 dog kennel, but we are wiring everything (wired bottom of it, and buried it) and the top will be wired as well, all in 1/2" hardware wire. The chain link will keep the bigger predators out (coyotes, etc) but not much else. Also, hawks from overhead are a huge issue too.

 

[ukuleledave]

I've just been through this process with my wife. We really had a hard time understanding her -- and vice versa -- until we settled on vocabulary.

You have what I call a "pen." It keeps the chickens in, and discourages dogs and non-climbing animals. Raccoons will get in that area. You need a "run" hopefully attached to the "coop." The run lets the chickens get out of the coop and wander. The coop and run need to be built like Fort Knox. (For Brits: Tower of London, Down Under: Port Arthur.)

This keeps predators out. Some say "chicken wire is not enough." Some suggest mesh.

Lots of folks do not have a "pen." They have a big chicken run -- even big enough for walking inside, and cleaning up. If I were you, I'd chicken wire a corner of the fenced in area, and build a large chicken run with a coop inside. Then they could wander a bit until you let them out into the pen. They'll find their way to the coop in the evenings.

Sorry about the formatting: All my paragraphs are getting crunched together.

 

[axelsangel]

We have learned the hard way on how to secure the coop and run. We lost our first flock of chicks to our dogs. We had the coop and run in a chain link fence that my kids play in also but the dogs got in that part of the chain link fence and got into the coop and run and killed them all. We have galvanized steel hard wire cloth around the coop and run but they tore through that. So to up our security we put up another chain link fence so the coop and run are in its own fence and them we put extra board on the top and bottom of the run and put chain link on the run itself and used a ton of the poultry netting nails. we also buried the fencing in the ground. Now the dogs have to go through 2 fences then really do some major digging to get into our coop and run now. Our coop and run is also cover with a metal roof.

 

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

thanks, we have some rolls of hardware cloth we were going to use for the quail cage, so ill just use that on the coop too for extra security.. My fiance used to install fences and his brilliant idea was to install electric fencing around the whole thing.. .I would probably electricute myself every day, so ill just go bury the hardware cloth while hes at work I dont know if this matters, but the coop itself is on 2 foot stilts too.. I guess I didnt realize how complicated of a project I was getting myself into.

 

[ukuleledave]

It has been done:

http://www.premier1supplies.com/pou...=electric+poultry+fence&utm_campaign=Bing+Ads

 

[ukuleledave]

Double post, sorry.

 

[axelsangel]

thanks, we have some rolls of hardware cloth we were going to use for the quail cage, so ill just use that on the coop too for extra security.. My fiance used to install fences and his brilliant idea was to install electric fencing around the whole thing.. .I would probably electricute myself every day, so ill just go bury the hardware cloth while hes at work I dont know if this matters, but the coop itself is on 2 foot stilts too.. I guess I didnt realize how complicated of a project I was getting myself into.

Our coop is 3 feet off the ground, I think it helps to a certain extent. I my first babies would have run up into the coop they would probably still be here...We didn't have any idea of what we were getting into either or how much this whole adventure was gonna cost. My husband and his projects...I have learn to just let him do.