BYC members in Massachusetts?

[BackItUp.PlayItSlow]

Howdy I am in need of some hens.. I'm 1/2 hour from Newburyport and will gladly come to you

Hi,
I’m so sorry, I just saw this. I rehomed my extra ee’s on Saturday.

What type of birds are you looking for? I have friends with birds as well who may have chicks soon.

 

[Rockporters]

Cross posting with state forums and CL.

We are starting to be outnumbered by cockerels around here. All purebred. We are located in MA/NH...sorry, no, we can’t ship. Some pics here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...arnvelder-polish-and-legbar-roosters.1329552/ If interested in updates pics of a certain one, please let me know.

Looking to rehome the following:

18 weeks:
Blue Showgirl-very social!
Buff frizzled Polish
Black and gold laced Polish

12 weeks:
Very small, White Silkie from blue. From show lines, but has an I
incorrect comb. Total sweetheart.

7 weeks:
2 Serama- both silkied. One white, one brown’ish

6 weeks:
Double silver laced Barnvelder
Splash Isbar

3 weeks:
Cream Crested Legbar
Maran
Gold Spitzhauben
Black? Isbar
Icelandic

 

[K0k0shka]

Hi neighbors! I'm building my first chicken coop and run and was wondering what you guys cover the tops of your runs with, given the kind of predators we have in MA. Would 2"x4" welded wire be enough? Or do I have to cover the top with the dense hardware cloth as well? I'm mostly worried about slinky small things like fisher cats climbing up the sides and squeezing through from above...

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Hi neighbors! I'm building my first chicken coop and run and was wondering what you guys cover the tops of your runs with, given the kind of predators we have in MA. Would 2"x4" welded wire be enough? Or do I have to cover the top with the dense hardware cloth as well? I'm mostly worried about slinky small things like fisher cats climbing up the sides and squeezing through from above...

I covered my run with corrugated metal roofing. It keeps the run a lot drier and should keep just about any critters out except for a bear. But they’re more likely not interested in a chicken dinner. Make sure you use carabiners on the latches. Apparently the raccoons haven’t figured out how to open them yet. What part of Mass are you in? Best of luck with your flock.

 

[K0k0shka]

@Wee Farmer Sarah I'm 2 blocks away from the Boston line, so no bears here Part of the run will have polycarbonate roofing on top, but I don't want to cover all of it since I have trees and shrubs there, and one bush in particular will be entirely inside the run, so I don't want to cut off its water supply and kill it...

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

@Wee Farmer Sarah I'm 2 blocks away from the Boston line, so no bears here Part of the run will have polycarbonate roofing on top, but I don't want to cover all of it since I have trees and shrubs there, and one bush in particular will be entirely inside the run, so I don't want to cut off its water supply and kill it...

Go with 19 gauge HC in that area. I have chipmunks that climb trees and I would not like them in my coop. I’m not worried they would hurt the chickens, I’m more concerned about having to clean up the mess if the chickens got a hold of them.

 

[K0k0shka]

Go with 19 gauge HC in that area. I have chipmunks that climb trees and I would not like them in my coop. I’m not worried they would hurt the chickens, I’m more concerned about having to clean up the mess if the chickens got a hold of them.

Hahahaha! I wouldn't mind the mess at all! I love chipmunks in theory and I think they're cute, but they've been destroying my garden, so I wouldn't mind the chickens doing the dirty work for me actually

Besides chipmunks, would you say 2"x4" welded wire is enough? Would fisher cats be a problem in this area? Weasels?

 

[ShrekDawg]

I’ve been extremely lucky but I just have a chain link dog kennel run for my run and I’ve been meaning to put hardware cloth up around it but haven’t but have been lucky. I did put wire around part of it though and there is a heavy wire skirt along the edge that butts up to the woods. Before that I had railroad ties on one side (it was in a different spot until last year). Anyway, I’ve had it 4 years and it’s worked for me and we have had fox and raccoons try to get in. Had some hawk attacks while free ranging, lost one, but otherwise fine. I do have 2x4 type welded wire on top, it’s coated in green vinyl, and it’s worked well. Before that it was just deer/bird netting to stop them from escaping but that stuff was a huge pain in the rear so I switched to the welded wire. I just zip tied it together and to the top. It’s worked really well. I’ve even had foxes and raccoons climb/jump on top of it and walk on it and it’s held up to their weight. So I’d say it works. HC is expensive and I’m not sure if I’d use it on the top of the run or not. Not really necessary. But if you want to be completely sure no predators or pests can get in then I would. Depends on your personal preference. But we are on 2.5 acres on the south shore and have a lot of trees/woods so we have everything from deer, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, to coyotes, fox, hawks, raccoons, etc. think we have skunks too and of course we have a major chipmunk problem atm that we are trying to deal with. And I have had chipmunks and squirrels go in the run to eat the food, currently the biggest issue is the chipmunks, but I moved the food bowl inside the coop and have not had an issue since. Also mine don’t even try to fight them. They just run away and/or watch them eat their food. So I wouldn’t worry too much about guts but depends on your chickens I guess. Anyway, I think welded wire would be fine.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hahahaha! I wouldn't mind the mess at all! I love chipmunks in theory and I think they're cute, but they've been destroying my garden, so I wouldn't mind the chickens doing the dirty work for me actually

Besides chipmunks, would you say 2"x4" welded wire is enough? Would fisher cats be a problem in this area? Weasels?

They’ve been destroying mine too!! And were stealing my chicken feed before I moved it inside. Naughty little things! Lol we are overrun with them currently.

I think the welded wire would be fine. Theoretically it shouldn’t be and they can fit through it but I’ve had mine in a chain link run with a welded wire top for years.

I know that’s just anecdotal and that I’ve been extremely lucky but we are pretty wooded and have all sorts of predators and have been fine so in a suburban backyard that close to the city I think you’d probably be fine with welded wire. Especially if you plan on covering part of it and the welded wire would only be on a little bit of it. Is your yard fenced? If so that adds a little bit of protection too. Not a ton, predators can still get through it, but it adds an extra barrier. Ours isn’t and we have had lots of attempts by raccoons and foxes to break in but none have been successful. But I do still plan on putting HC around the rest of the run.

 

[K0k0shka]

I won't be leaving food out in the run (besides treats I toss in like table scraps, which I imagine will be gone quickly), so hopefully chipmunks and squirrels won't have a reason to go in. I want to be able to leave the pop door open permanently though, so I want it to be predator proof... Just not sure of which predators I'm proofing against. The confusing thing about anecdotal evidence is that I've heard both kind of stories - a neighbor had chickens for 16 years at the edge of the woods with 2"x2" welded wire all around, and had no predator problems, but a different neighbor had some animal squeeze through a 2"-ish hole and kill one of her chickens, so... I was hoping to collect more stories and see if there's a pattern... Like, if I cover the sides with a denser mesh, can I get away with the larger welded wire on top, because yeah, damn, HC is expensive and the uncovered-by-roofing part of my run will be quite large actually...

My yard isn't fenced and I've seen big things in it - raccoons, groundhogs, etc. which don't bother me because they won't fit through. What I'm trying to figure out is how much of a threat weasels and fishers are.