chain link fencing adequate?

[Southern28Chick]

Quote:
The funny thing that I just don't get is, she's had those chickens for YEARS!!!!! I don't understand!

I would really suggest you lock them up at night. There have been times when I've slept in and mine didn't get out of the house until 10:00 am. They don't seem to mind to much.

Here's what I found about snakes in WA (scroll down to Common Snakes of Washington):
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/snakes.pdf

 

[Wolfpacker]

My chicks are fairly young - about 8 weeks. When I first put them in, a couple could get through the links, so I put chicken wire around the bottom.

I came home today to find one had nearly hanged herself. She stuck her head through and when when she pulled back, it was caught between the wire and the chain link which formed a sort of "chinese handcuff" (if you remember those things from growing up) and she was slowly suffocating. Thank goodness I found her when I did. I'm wondering if that might have happened to the one I lost mysteriously yesterday. But her head was not in the wire when I found her.

I've been out with them the rest of the day today. Tomorrow, the chicken wire comes off.

 

[biretta]

Okay, I'm convinced: three to four feet long, some of these snakes?! I haven't seen them but a nice chicken dinner might lure them out of the brush! I'm locking them up now. Unfortunately, their coop's only 38'x47" and there are 5 of them, and I'm not a morning person.

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
It depends on which side of the state you live in. Eastern WA has LOTS of snakes and predators. Western WA doesn't have the snake problem, but you have possums, racoons, coyotes, foxes....and yes, weasels.

 

[biretta]

Miltonchix: Yeah, I thought there were weasels from what I've read, despite that I've never seen any. I bet fresh chicken dinners free for the taking would eventually draw them out. I locked them in last night and set my alarm for 5 AM to let them out, which is why I'm up at this hour. Better get some mesh today as I don't know how long I want to keep this up!

Wolfpacker, sorry to hear about your chicks. I would put the mesh to maybe at least 3 feet high around the run so they can't stick their necks through--make sure there aren't perches near the top of the mesh so that this is possible. For added assurance, maybe clip the mesh so that it's aligned with the coop netting so that the chinese handcuff thing is avoided.