Hello everyone, I didn't find my exact situation already being discussed so here it goes.
We have two potbelly pigs currently living in the chicken run, they hang out with the chickens, we are not having any issues sharing the space so far. We had fox issues with our last little flock, I am also new to this property we have only lived in it for a little over three months.
The chickens in question are barred rock, 6 hens and a rooster, we took them as a rehome, the rest of the troop consisting of one turkey, one whether and 4 ewes are joining them in the near future but the question right now is: if the potbelly pigs are living in the chicken run and I ensure they will not get in the coop, can I leave the coop open at night? Will the scent of the pigs be enough to deter land/night predators (fox, racoon, possum)? Mt husband thinks is enough and that I should save me the trouble of going back there to close the coop but neither one of us have much experience in this matter. What do you all think? I attached pictures of the coop, run and animals. Thank you for the help in advance.
We have two potbelly pigs currently living in the chicken run, they hang out with the chickens, we are not having any issues sharing the space so far. We had fox issues with our last little flock, I am also new to this property we have only lived in it for a little over three months.
The chickens in question are barred rock, 6 hens and a rooster, we took them as a rehome, the rest of the troop consisting of one turkey, one whether and 4 ewes are joining them in the near future but the question right now is: if the potbelly pigs are living in the chicken run and I ensure they will not get in the coop, can I leave the coop open at night? Will the scent of the pigs be enough to deter land/night predators (fox, racoon, possum)? Mt husband thinks is enough and that I should save me the trouble of going back there to close the coop but neither one of us have much experience in this matter. What do you all think? I attached pictures of the coop, run and animals. Thank you for the help in advance.