Close shave, thank God our chickens are safe!

[GardenGal]

I thought the chickens would be safe in their tractor, in the daytime, when we are home. Not as safe as I thought - I was upstairs and heard sounds I'd never heard before and ran downstairs to find the chickens - all of them! - running toward the house and a coyote running out of our yard. They all went into their main run quietly and then reaction set in for our little rooster, Bobby, and he was so upset. I gave them an ear of corn and attention. They're all kind of shocked, and so am I.

Well, no more unsupervised tractor time! Thought I should post, so hopefully no one else will be surprised. I'm so grateful they made it!!!

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Yikes! That is definitely a close shave! Glad your chickens are safe!

 

[kidcody]

close call

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Have you determined how they got out of the tractor? Did the coyote tear it open, dig under, what?

 

[sourland]

Be on guard, the coyote will return.

 

[GardenGal]

My husband hasn't had a chance to build the tractor door, so I've just been weaving the chicken wire together. Which is a pain, and takes me several minutes to undo. The door was open, and I don't know if that's how the coyote did it, or if the chickens burst against it in their panic. I'm expecting the coyote to be back as well, so they're in the big run, which is secure but not as secure as it's going to be after a trip to the hardware store! Meanwhile the chickens are having tons of treats to make up for it and I'm keeping a beady eye out for that coyote.

Scary. So glad I wasn't running the vacuum. Thanks, really appreciate you guys

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If chicken wire is the main protection in your tractor then I would not trust it to keep a coyote or a coon out. It's not strong enough.

 

[GardenGal]

We did use chicken wire on the tractor, because we figured if we expected it to be safe against raccoons and coyotes, we would also need to make sure they couldn't dig under or tip it over, and didn't know how to prevent that happening and still have it be movable. So we didn't think of it as Fort Knox, just a place for them to graze safely when we are home. Lesson learned there. If I replaced the wire on the tractor with hardware cloth, couldn't a coyote or raccoon still dig under or tip it over? It's 4' wide, 8' long, 3' tall.

So now they will only go out in the tractor when we are outside with them, and we'll make sure their big run is really secure and comfortable. Kind of a bummer, but I'm just so relieved we didn't lose them!

 

[Abirdbrain]

I use the hex wire, and NO it is not strong enough to resist a determined attack. 18 ga welded wire of 1 x 2 inch of Whatever height, is much better. My tractors are built with 2x4 and are heavy so they cannot be lifted by small animals. As for a door, PVC pipe and some plastic ties can whip one out fairly fast, and be secure enough to cover the opening. Use welding rod, or tie wire for human strength to close or open the door.

A coyote or coon can be very persistant, and given enough time will figure out a way for dinner.

One raccon chewed 22 wire ties off the bottom of the wire. Still could not get under the tensioned hex mesh. Other tractors are poultry stapled into the wood. Not moving there.

 

[Chicken Angel <3]

wow, that was a close call!