Coop & run placement under oak trees

[greginshasta]

We have been debating where to place a permanent coop and the most practical location at this point is an area where it will be in the immediate vicinity of several oak trees. It's the one part of our yard where we don't have to clear a lot of vegetation in order to build the coop, will have practical access to it in the winter, and can see it from the house.

The only other location is way in the back where it cannot be seen from the house and getting there in the snow would be simply awful. Making that trek even once a day, once the snow falls, would be really frustrating because that is where the drifts build up and it is not practical to take a snow thrower into that area.

I may place the corrugated fiberglass roofing panels over the run in order to obstruct leaves and snow from the main run which will likely be around 10x20.

I've seen how some folks have large spans of netting over their runs, and wonder if you have deciduous trees that shed leaves into that netting. It would be nice to blow them away with a leaf blower, but I can only imagine that many leaves will stick to the netting and be a hassle.

Does anyone have experience with runs and leaves falling on the bird netting?

Thanks

 

[Wolfpacker]

That's a good question. My coop is in a wooded area and I have hardware cloth on mine now. I already have a few leaves, twigs, and pine straw on top. I was wondering what would happen when all the leaves really start falling.

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

Yes you do get a small build up,mine is half and half.Its under some trees for protection from the redtail's.We dont get many sharpshinned around here,there the ones that come low and pop a squat and pick them off one at a time.The real chincy neeting is like a magnet for stuff,I found the heavier stuff is easier to push the objects of and if the pitch is steep it just slides off it.

 

[greginshasta]

I dropped by the local feed store today and was told stories of recent bobcat and coyote attacks killing chickens and goats. One fellow had a 6' fence with the barbed wire mounted on a diagonal such as you see in industrial and other secured facilities. Somehow a predator managed to get over it and killed all the guy's goats. This was mostly in a more rural area 5-6 miles north of here.

When I moved to this neighborhood there were chickens a few houses down the street and within the first 6 months or year they were killed by a predator. Obviously I need to take this issue seriously.

I'll probably build a 20x10 run for our 10 hens, which is twice the 10' per bird recommendation, allowing room for growth of our flock of 10. I have some field fencing that has openings around 4x6 but is very strong. It is a 6' width roll. I'm thinking about stretching this across the top of my run in order to achieve 2 goals.

- the openings are large enough that most leaves will fall through and not accumulate on the top.
- any predators that get on top (assuming they get past an electric wire I will likely also install, will unlikely be able to tear this apart.)

I'm thinking bobcats and other such larger critters. Will racoons, which I have never seen here in 2.5 years so they may not be present, be able to get in through a 4x6 opening? Do I need smaller wire than this field fencing?

 

[ashbourn]

For my run I use 1/4" 4x4 wire. Alot of animals can wiggle through a 1" hole, around me mink, weasels, rats, and snakes. We also have bears, various wild cars, and opossums but racoons are by far my biggest fear because they are so crafty. It is because of these animals that I keep the run and coop as animal proof as I can.
As for the tree issue, I have my coops under trees and it is great in the summer because the temps stay about 10 degrees cooler in the coop. I do have a roofed run so leaves are not much of an issue.
Joe

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
I'm trying to understand what sort of wire this is? Are you talking about the sort of stuff that might be referred as Cattle Panel or Hog Panel? Is this what you mean Joe?