BYC Café

[chickadoodles]

Good morning cafe. Thanks for the coffee NFC.

Sean sorry for your loss.
Maybe solar security lights aimed down through the rows of pens might help.

We put up a light at our coop and solar lights and we did not have any more problems.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Well, finally caught the momma coon last night. Caught her 3 babies last week, 1 each night. Their little raiding party, cost me 7 Reeves , 3 Bianchi, 4 Red Golden pheasants and 8 Texas Blue Scaled quail.
They bite their toes off, tore them to pieces, and mangled them so badly, had to put them down. All this done through 1/2" HC.
Guess I'm goning to have to redo all my outdoor brooder pens using 1/4" HC
I thought they were predator proof, oops, think again.

So sorry you lost those beautiful birds. I often thought about whether varmints might bite toes through the wire. Seems like so far the predators here mostly stay down by the river. I did have one guinea hen disappear without a trace.
The smaller wire doesn't let the poo fall through. I use it for chick brooders. I was thinking maybe close in the part under the cages with wire, and a door added down there for clean out.

 

[ronott1]

Well, finally caught the momma coon last night. Caught her 3 babies last week, 1 each night. Their little raiding party, cost me 7 Reeves , 3 Bianchi, 4 Red Golden pheasants and 8 Texas Blue Scaled quail.
They bite their toes off, tore them to pieces, and mangled them so badly, had to put them down. All this done through 1/2" HC.
Guess I'm goning to have to redo all my outdoor brooder pens using 1/4" HC
I thought they were predator proof, oops, think again.

coons are terrible! they work in pairs forcing the birds into the wire on one side where the second one pulls them through the wire. You might want to consider metal roof panels at the bottom of the wire that goes up a foot or so

 

[CapricornFarm]

Hope Sean has a better day without predator attacks

I hope his pain decreases as well!

 

[CapricornFarm]

coons are terrible! they work in pairs forcing the birds into the wire on one side where the second one pulls them through the wire. You might want to consider metal roof panels at the bottom of the wire that goes up a foot or so

You can get rolls of metal flashing fairly reasonably. Drill holes and wire it on...

 

[ronott1]

You can get rolls of metal flashing fairly reasonably. Drill holes and wire it on...

Perfect!

Chicks toes can come out of very small openings--and the the pulling starts! I imagine it would be worse for pheasants and other small fowl

 

[Alaskan]

But then the birds are in a metal box... way less airflow.... potential cooked birds.

 

[007Sean]

Thanks for all the ideas but the best thing for me to do is re-wire the brooders with 1/4" HC. They don't bother my other big pens that are 1" welded wire mesh.
What happens is their toes will hang down through the 1/2" but 1/4" they don't. The coons get a hold of their toes and pull them through the wire, literally pulling them apart.
I only have 7 brooder pens that need to be redone. Their 4' x 3' x 12'

 

[pennyJo1960]

Get to go home

 

[007Sean]

Get to go home

Yippi