Coop Door HELP!

[chicksrule1]

What did you do to cover the run?


The run is covered with a solid roof that is continuous to the coop. The coop is two story with a dusting area under the raised coop.
The roof will have a underlayment of plywood, then roof paper, then metal corrugated roofing.

 

[pbuckler]

My two cents.... I live in a rural subdivision. We don't have too many predators, just the neighborhood cats & dogs, etc.. I came home one night to see a 5" hole through the chicken wire. Given the location of the hole and size I really think one of my barred rocks chewed through the wire and escaped! I didn't believe it at first but it was level with the top of the board that goes into the coop from the run. So it was about 2' up in the air. If a predator wanted in they would have gone through the wire near the base of the run not 2' up the chicken wire. There were no feathers anywhere in the run or coop to suggest a predator got in. And the other 2 birds were just fine. I was pretty sad when she never turned up. That night I spent several hours adding a layer of hardware cloth over top the chicken wire. I also moved the board they use to walk up to enter the coop as far from the wall as possible to prevent this from happening again. I also re-evaluated my security measures just to make sure they are safe.

Shortly after this incident I came home to the egg door on the coop being wide open and my chickens scratching through my garden! Someone opened that door and let them escape. Luckily the birds really enjoy pecking through my garden and didn't get lost. I was gone for several hours before I came home and noticed this. So, put a lock on every door, window, anything that opens. You never know what is going to happen. The egg door is actually the roof and a bit of the siding you see on the left side of the coop. The below pic was taken just after I finished the coop (minus any doors) and didn't have any chickens yet.

 

[chicksrule1]

Yes, my yard is also fenced 6ft. high and i also have two dogs that run out into the yard all night long everytime they hear anything! I think rats, maybe a racoon, hawks would be our issues. Although with the roof a hawk couldn't get in. Our soil is also extremley rocky. So rocky that it is difficult to dig any holes even to plant a flower. It would be hard to burrow under anything in my yard.

 

[KathyK]

... may I suggest running a hot wire around the top of the entire coop and run. The only problem I have with predators with the same basic set-up is things coming in over the top. I leave the door to the coop open at all times unless we are having predator problems and the hot wire has eliminated 99% of those.

I was told that electric hot wire only works if the animal is grounded (touching the ground). Does it actually do any good to run a hot wire on the top if it is 6' high?
Any animal that is climbing the fence will not have his feet on the ground when it touches the wire. ????​

 

[emys]

Yes, my yard is also fenced 6ft. high and i also have two dogs that run out into the yard all night long everytime they hear anything! I think rats, maybe a racoon, hawks would be our issues. Although with the roof a hawk couldn't get in. Our soil is also extremley rocky. So rocky that it is difficult to dig any holes even to plant a flower. It would be hard to burrow under anything in my yard.

Then you are probably fine.​

 

[lavacaw]

Quote:
I was told that electric hot wire only works if the animal is grounded (touching the ground). Does it actually do any good to run a hot wire on the top if it is 6' high?
Any animal that is climbing the fence will not have his feet on the ground when it touches the wire. ????

My son grounded the hot wire to the fence...If you touch the fence (and animals have to be hanging onto the fence) and the wire, it will knock them for a loop. I have not lost a chicken to predators since we put it up!

 

[twinanchor]

One thing you have to own up to is this. You (and I ) are their sole provider and protector. Without our help our back yard chucks would be no where, except dead. We domesticate them to the point that they fear nothing. To give an example, they cannot differentiate between a raccoon and a dog. If you have a dog that is friendly, to the birds when it is around them, then if a coon gets close by you can guess what will happen. Do what has to be done to keep your birds for as long as they healthily will live. You will be rewarded 10 fold.