Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

What an excellent feedback! Not too long and very explanatory about changes made and the results that you see. I'm so glad to see a pic of the girls and see them dusting happily in their improved digs.



Got a question for the OTs and I cannot answer this one: From a member: Please tell us what you do to deter digging predators from getting into the coop at night. Thanks!


I cannot answer this because I have the dog outside at all times and this won't occur at my place. Any OTs care to give advice on this issue and how they solve it at their place. How effective has your solution been over the years and are their any improvements you have made to your original fortifications?

 

[stonykill]

What an excellent feedback! Not too long and very explanatory about changes made and the results that you see. I'm so glad to see a pic of the girls and see them dusting happily in their improved digs.



Got a question for the OTs and I cannot answer this one: From a member: Please tell us what you do to deter digging predators from getting into the coop at night. Thanks!


I cannot answer this because I have the dog outside at all times and this won't occur at my place. Any OTs care to give advice on this issue and how they solve it at their place. How effective has your solution been over the years and are their any improvements you have made to your original fortifications?

I'm 2 years short of chicken ownership to meet the OT requirement...but.....

At the 1st sign of a digging predator I set box traps near the pen in question and in area's through investigating and tracking I have determined the predator is coming. Upon catching the predator I kill it..usually them. I don't use leg hold traps as I have some chickens that live in tree's (their choice not mine) and an out door cat.

I have also found myself "marking" the area with human urine . No way for me to prove this works however.

 

[armorfirelady]

Im not an OT but I learned on here to put chicken wire around the perimeter of the wooden run & coop about 6 inches up the outside of the structure & 6 inches on the ground in the shape of an "L" that I then used repurposed landscape blocks on top of the ones on the ground. No coons or other predators have tried digging into the area.

 

[unkadan]

Got a question for the OTs and I cannot answer this one: From a member: Please tell us what you do to deter digging predators from getting into the coop at night. Thanks!

Lead is my preferred deterrent

 

[stonykill]

Lead is my preferred deterrent

exactly. Lead poisoning is how I finish the deterent

 

[Zanna]

Not an OT but 6 years ago when we started raising chickens DH built a large hoop type coop on PVC pipe so we could pull/slide it on the grass with the four wheeler or two people could push it sideways by hand. A skunk dug under the pvc and killed a bunch of babies that were still sleeping on the ground. We set up box traps and he met his maker. In hopes to solve any further problems we bought horse panels (smaller holes than hog panels), cut them lengthwise in half and slid them under the PVC pipe just into the coop all the way around. They stick out about 2 1/2 - 3 ft. on the outside of the coop and have grass growing up through them now as we decided to do deep litter and not move the coop anymore. This has solved the problems for us so far...........

 

[thedragonlady]

Lead is my preferred deterrent

Not taking ANY chances, as we have coyotes, coons, and heavens knows what else wandering about at night. My heavy duty 10' tall chain link runs are buried 2' into the ground .6 " deep is a horizontal layer of 2' wide chain link outside attached to the vertical fencing, which is covered in dirt and grass. This same layer is under all the gates as well as a 2x 8" board inside for the gate to butt up to. Nothing tries to dig in that. Liriope is planted all around the outside on top of all this. Ever tried to dig that stuff up? Biddy wire goes up 2' outside all the runs, both to keep little ones in, and to keep little hands OUT. No outside roosts are placed close to the perimeter wire. Ever seen a coon dismember a bird through the wire? Not pretty.

Outside 1/2 acre is now covered with 40 lb test monofilament clear line 10 feet up, at 2' intervals, like a giant maypole to keep hawks out. Seems to be working. An eagle flew over today chased by my beloved crow flock, and he didn't linger.My flying neighbor tells me that my giant spider web is very visable from the air.

And then there are the dogs and the 12 bore....

 

[Beekissed]

WOW, Dragon! Ain't nothing gettin' in and nothing gettin' out on your place!

Can I use your answer on my webpage? Had someone email in this question and didn't have a real good answer for her because I just trust the dog. Most folks don't keep their dogs outdoors all the time and this would seem like a foreign concept to them, so I thought I should go with what most other folks are doing.

 

[armorfirelady]

Ok so the nights and days are getting cooler 60s during the day & 40s/30s at night. Now the hens are out in giant run all day in the sun & I figured if they were cold from the wind they would be in the wooden run or coop. Both are protected right now by the veggie garden still going strong.

My question is should I start putting up the heavy duty plastic I bought now? I have been back & forth in my head saying yes/no. Its cold at night but they have feathers & the one open end of the coop faces east so no direct wind from there. I figure I can hold off on the wooden run attached to the hen house since they dont roost in there at night.

Comments/thoughts??
Thanks

 

[Beekissed]

This is something I always debate at this time of year(was just discussing it this evening, in fact)...when is the time to start winterizing? Just as sure as you do, you get a heat wave and you feel sorry for the chickens in their new, cozy coop and run....which is then too hot. But that is temporary and cold is on it's way. The way that I solve this is by putting up the plastic/window coverings closest to the roost first and leave the rest of the areas still open and free flowing with air. Then as the cold and wind progresses towards a more steady set of cooler temps and fall winds, I start to apply the protection to the rest of the coop.

I like to think that birds, like dogs, get the appropriate feathering for winter by the start of these cooler night temps. It triggers their bodies to feather out more densely than if they are kept the same cozy temps throughout the day and the nights~just like an outside dog has a thicker coat in the winter than an inside dog. I've seen this to be true with chicks that are left to colder temps at night...they feather out quicker and more completely than do chicks that always have a heat lamp present at night.

Winterizing is a process and you will learn it as you go along, year after year. I'd try putting up the plastic on the windy side of the run/coop first and the area closest to the roosts. Then as the cold progresses, I'd finish it out.