MichaelZ13
In the Brooder
A dog, a coyote, a racoon , a fisher will all rip through chicken wire like butter. Your solution here is to do one of the following:
1. Herd them in to your coop each night and lock a door.
2. Get a guard dog to keep watch 24/7. A Great Pyrenees or Australian Shepherd will work, but they need a little training.
3. Use a secure chicken tractor with a lockable metal house. See http://www.raisingbackyardchickens101.com/chicken-tractor-plans.html
I use the secure chicken tractor, and I keep it in my yard close to the house in plain view. After I move it each day, I hose down the previous area good and this keeps the smell down to near nothing. I think the fact that there is little or no smell to draw in predators plus there are no chickens in sight at night helps discourage predators. Also, having the tractor on the yard right near where my dogs mark up the area with their scent helps. Our 2 dogs go inside at night so they do not help keep watch over night, although if they hear some commotion from the nearby tractor, they would be quick to wake us up. If the predator sees a chicken on the other side of some wire, they will go all out to rip through chicken wire or dig under some sturdier hardware cloth.
1. Herd them in to your coop each night and lock a door.
2. Get a guard dog to keep watch 24/7. A Great Pyrenees or Australian Shepherd will work, but they need a little training.
3. Use a secure chicken tractor with a lockable metal house. See http://www.raisingbackyardchickens101.com/chicken-tractor-plans.html
I use the secure chicken tractor, and I keep it in my yard close to the house in plain view. After I move it each day, I hose down the previous area good and this keeps the smell down to near nothing. I think the fact that there is little or no smell to draw in predators plus there are no chickens in sight at night helps discourage predators. Also, having the tractor on the yard right near where my dogs mark up the area with their scent helps. Our 2 dogs go inside at night so they do not help keep watch over night, although if they hear some commotion from the nearby tractor, they would be quick to wake us up. If the predator sees a chicken on the other side of some wire, they will go all out to rip through chicken wire or dig under some sturdier hardware cloth.
Last edited: