Have been building our very first chicken run for over four months now. It's taking forever because of the incessant rain, but we're hoping to finish it if we can get just four dry sunny days in a row. We're pretty sure it's predator proof against diggers, climbers, and flyers. Heavy gauge, small mesh, welded wire on top, sides, and buried deep in the ground and then bent outward underground. We haven't gotten any chickens as yet. The only critters we've ever seen in the 30 years we've lived in this suburban neighborhood is raccoons, possums, field mice, hawks, and an occasional feral cat.
We're wondering if we should test the run's security before we get any chickens. Not sure if we'd be attracting trouble that might not have ever shown up, or if we'd be cleverly revealing the run's unseen weak spots with no risk to any chickens. Has anyone ever deliberately tempted critters to try and get into their run? And if so, what bait? I'm thinking peanut butter, bacon and bread.
We could set the bait out in a Have-a-Heart live trap, and then put the baited trap in the middle of the run. Smart? Dumb? Any comments or advice?
We're wondering if we should test the run's security before we get any chickens. Not sure if we'd be attracting trouble that might not have ever shown up, or if we'd be cleverly revealing the run's unseen weak spots with no risk to any chickens. Has anyone ever deliberately tempted critters to try and get into their run? And if so, what bait? I'm thinking peanut butter, bacon and bread.
We could set the bait out in a Have-a-Heart live trap, and then put the baited trap in the middle of the run. Smart? Dumb? Any comments or advice?
