Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!

[Kevinsl06]

The avian raptors can be troublesome. Consider getting overhead netting.

That's going to be hard to do with free range chickens....

 

[Debbie292d]

That's going to be hard to do with free range chickens....

You can try to discourage the hawks from coming down by having some wind spinners you move around occasionally. We have some tall ones around 6-7", and the smaller 2' ones.

Heavy gauge fishing line strung above your heads between buildings and trees confuses them, too. Some have strung CD's in the trees too.

Having something they can duck under if a hawk is spotted also helps, such as picnic or patio tables, or similar items.

Otherwise, since they've already gotten dinner via some of your chickens, they'll remember and come back. I think I'd consider making them a covered run or depending how many you have, maybe a movable run.

 

[DParker75089]

I've been offline from this site for nearly 2.5 years now (for many reasons, none having anything to do with the site itself). We lost all of our chickens in a pre-dawn coyote pack raid due to an improperly latched run gate (my fault) about 6 months ago, and are only now getting around to trying to build a new flock from scratch (pun intended). I started by disassembling and trashing the old chicken complex that we inherited when we bought the property, which consisted of two cheap coops from Tractor Supply tied together by a 10'x8' chain link-enclosed run (though they free-ranged during the day). And just yesterday I finally replaced it with a 8'x12' Tuff Shed that I splurged on and will be taking some saws and a drill to in order to convert it into what I hope will be a coop that can accommodate up to 25 birds, thought we have no immediate plans for a flock of that size (will probably start with 12-14 hens and a rooster for now).

The plan is to modify the shed thusly:

1. Create a bounding perimeter around the gravel foundation using lumber.
2. Add a single row of up to 7 internal nesting boxes under the side window. That's more than necessary, but I'm not using that part of that wall for anything else, and so it won't hurt to have extra nesting capacity. Given the roominess of the shed and the big main door I don't expect that external access to the boxes will be necessary, but can always add that later if I determine that it is desirable.
3. Add a solar panel, charge controller and battery combo to power the chicken door and some DC LED lighting.
4. Add an automatic chicken door to the bottom-left part of the window-less side wall. I'm currently leaning toward a Farmlite (this model so I can power it with the solar setup above: Farmlite 12v door).
5. Add an 8'x4' "poop tray" elevated 1.5'-2' off the floor in the back-right corner (as viewed from outside the main door), filled with an absorbent material/product (exact choice still TBD).
6. Add a ladder-style roost above the "poop tray" with 4 ~8' long roosting bars made from sanded 2x4s.
7. Cover all windows with 1/2" hardware cloth. They're high enough off the ground that I doubt they'd be accessible to any of the predators we have, but the cloth is cheap and easy insurance just in case I'm wrong.
8. Enclose the area adjacent to the side with the chicken door in a coop-attached 12'L x 8'W x 6.5'H run covered in 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth (extending 1.5' around the perimeter and just under the surface to prevent predator digging attacks).

The 3 vents that run along the bottom of the back wall, the windows (which will remain open during warm weather) and the roof ridge vent combine to provide just over 9 sq. ft. of total ventilation. Since there's no window on the wall where the run and chicken door are going, which is the one that gets the most sun, and the rest of the shed gets a fair amount of shade for most of the day, the existing ventilation might be adequate. But I'll monitor things and make change to increase air flow if needed (perhaps even including some small, quiet ducted fans that can run off the solar system).

And of course my wife wants to add some touches to make it "pretty"...because chickens are so particular about the aesthetic appeal of what it is that they're going to end up crapping all over.