- May 23, 2011
- 915
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We've felt pretty good about the lengths we've gone to to keep raccoons and foxes out of the chickens' yard. We'd put up six feet of strong wire fencing. Then we attached two or three feet of chicken wire on the inside, threaded it under the fence and out the other side, staked it down and covered the skirt with gravel. Anyone who thinks they can dig under the fence, through the gravel, will find chicken wire on the bottom.
So far, so good. There is a spot where we didn't stake down the skirt and use gravel because it is a tight spot where we keep the recycling binsand unlikely anyone would try to dig in. When I checked on the chickens this afternoon, I couldn't find Flora. She had dug under the skirt from the inside and was trapped in a mass of chicken wire. She was twisted and still and I couldn't tell whether it was bliss from a dirt bath or whether she was exhausted trying to free herself. I tried to lift the skirt, but her head was through a hole and I couldn't lift high enough to get it over her head. I went for the wire cutters and when I returned she'd freed herself and seemed ok. I covered the skirt with pieces of cinder block and am going to suggest staking it down and putting down gravel. Even if the predators can't get in, I'd hate for one of the girls to strangle herself taking a dirt bath.
So far, so good. There is a spot where we didn't stake down the skirt and use gravel because it is a tight spot where we keep the recycling binsand unlikely anyone would try to dig in. When I checked on the chickens this afternoon, I couldn't find Flora. She had dug under the skirt from the inside and was trapped in a mass of chicken wire. She was twisted and still and I couldn't tell whether it was bliss from a dirt bath or whether she was exhausted trying to free herself. I tried to lift the skirt, but her head was through a hole and I couldn't lift high enough to get it over her head. I went for the wire cutters and when I returned she'd freed herself and seemed ok. I covered the skirt with pieces of cinder block and am going to suggest staking it down and putting down gravel. Even if the predators can't get in, I'd hate for one of the girls to strangle herself taking a dirt bath.
