Beginner question about a mobile pen

[ecocheapomom]

So we woudl very much like to start a meat flock this year and are looking into using a mobile pen system. We have foxes, fisher cats, etc. all over the place and we are worried about the chickens at night. It would seem that something could easily dig under the pen? How do other folsk deal with this and other predator issues?

 

[scubaforlife]

There are a few ways to deal with this. You can order electric fencing from Premier and encircle your entire yard. You can put an "anti-digging" fence around the pens (horizonally at the bottom sticking out 6 inches or so). You can set some traps, get a dog, basically standard pest prevention stuff. You can drive spikes around the pens each day to prevent digging (though martins will easily get in).

Basically if you are vigilant, you should be ok. If you set them in the middle of a field, smaller predators are less likely to come out as they are afraid of hawks. Larger predators will come but only if there is nothing else.

 

[barrybro]

If you are starting small I would encourage you to just build a pen and not worry about predators. I live on 60 acres surrounded by woods. We have coyotes, fox, racoon and opossum in abundance. No losses. My biggest issue was a red tailed hawk who would sit and stare into the pen during the day. I swear it was the cause of one of my broilers to flip.

Barry

 

[Shelly_WNC]

I want to do the same, build a movable pen/run so I can move it every few days .

I am going to go with the 'anti-digging' idea ... somehow attach hardwire cloth to the perimeter (kinda flarred out a foot ) and put something heavy around it. I have no idea if this will work ... I would love to 'see pics' of how other BYC'ers accomplish this too.

I have read way to many post on here about dogs, weasles and coons getting the chicks so I am extra-sensitive to building something very protective.

 

[schmism]

there are some ideas in my thread

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=309155

 

[bibliophile birds]

my chickens (just my regular flock, not meaties) are in a chicken wagon (you can see the details on my BYC page). it sits in the middle of the cow field and gets moved about once a week. at the moment, we're using dog panels (kind of like these) as fencing.

we have lots of foxes, coyotes, opossums, raccoons, feral dogs and cats, hawks, etc etc. i've not had a single issue with anything trying to dig into the pen. a fox has been spotted up around the coop several times, but he's never tried to dig in and he's not managed to find another way in yet. he, or another fox, got 1/2 my neighbor's flock a few weeks ago. she uses the electric netting, which has worked wonderfully for her until the charger stopped working.

with smaller chicken tractors i would think the issue was more about predators reaching through the wire during the night. you could solve this problem by buying fencing with a small weave or doubling up the fencing on the sides so that they overlap.

 

[Buster52]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3799196#p3799196

But I use dogs to protect my bird pens.

 

[ecocheapomom]

I like the idea of extending the hardware cloth out onto the ground. This is what we did for our fixed coop for our layers. https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=29779-recycled-shed-coop Although we have rocks around the entire perimeter and I don't want to have to move those everyday. I am also concerned about something reaching into the pen at night, but I am hoping to small hardware cloth holes will prevent that.

 

[raimnel]

Hi check out my BYC page, just scroll down till you see our Fatties tractor. It has the fence extended out 6-8 inches at the bottom. I (a weakling women) haul this thing ALL around our yard for 9 weeks. This year I'll be doing two batches. hmmm last summer I lost 10 lbs maybe this summer I'll lose 20?

 

[ericsplls]

I don't have an anti digging fence around mine. My idea would be put one about 16 inches down the sides in a way that allows them to hinge. You could probably use cage clips. Then fold it up when you want to move it. Tie your weights on a short rope so you can set it on the wire when it's down or set it up on top to keep it folded up during transport.