DONT USE THIS FENCE!!! NEED TO READ!!!

[CARS]

Quote:
2X4 is all I use but when they are little or should I say, still learning I wrap 36" of chicken wire to keep them safe. A chicken that makes it over 6' is free game as far as I am concerned.

 

[Hoot]

I have had the same thing happen with chain link fence also. Any wire they can get their head through poses a problem. I plan to use the Red Brand 2x4 fencing for my small 8x8 run. They'll be free ranging when my garden isn't down.

I'm hoping the birds are to (Chicken) to stick their heads through the fence when a coon is on the other side.

Hoot

 

[BeardedChick]

Quote:
Part of it is 8', and the the free range has some old fence that is 4'. The fence that divides off the dog yard has a 6' gate/fence.

When I build the new goat/chicken area this Spring, it will be an 8' fence (my preferred height).

 

[Brian]

I'm a little mystified here. Firstly, I have 2. 5acres that my 16 hens free-range on. So, no wire quotient here whatsoever. One year, no losses. Here's my question: when did the raccoon do the nefarious deed? During daytime, or night? I never see raccoons during the day, and at night, all chickens should be in their safehouse. So, I'm scratching my head as to when the chicken predation occurred. If it was during the daytime, then why would a chicken not see the coon, and be sticking his head through?

With this winter's inclimate weather, the hens have decided it is nice to hang out on our back or front porch, pooping it up big-time, and turning it in to a fecal-fest...a scatological Jackson Pollack painting of the undesirable variety. So, I just penned in an area in the very back (around a quarter acre, with shelter) where the hens can be contained on those really rainy and snowy days. This should keep them from soiling the porches. The fence material is 2x4" deer and rabbit fence. This is the kind that gets more dense toward the bottom, i.e. the rectangles get to around 3/4"x4". I don't anticipate the need to put chicken wire on the bottom, because I've never seen a coon on our property during the day, and my hens are locked up tight in their predator proof henhouse at night. Think I'm making a mistake here???

Brian
PS. I would think that if a predator was on one side of any fence, and hens were on the other side, that the hens would move as far from the predator as possible. Am I wrong?

 

[speckledhen]

Raccoons are almost always nighttime predators, certainly, but my neighbor has seen one during the daytime and called us to make sure our chickens were safe. A dog can get a bird that sticks its head through the 2x4" openings and that's our only normal daytime predator. Certainly, locking them in before dark and not letting them out till daylight is the best defense against raccoons.

 

[patandchickens]

It may be that the rooster was trying to protect his flock?

We periodically see raccoons out during the day, usually just before or after dinner, during early summer especially (when they ahve the most mouths 'back home' to feed). If I were kind of laidback about risks, I would probably not stress too much about it and take my chances, but if I REALLY did not want the raccoons to ever get a taste of white meat and start seriously trying to get more, there is real benefit to putting at least some sort of top on the run, and certainly putting smaller-than-chicken-head-or-raccoon-arm size mesh around the bottom 3' or so of fence.

The thing about 'it hasn't happened to me' is that it never does, of course, until suddenly it has

Pat

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Sorry for your loss.

You need to be aware that a determined raccoon can tear through your chicken wire without much effort on their part. You may consider some welded wire/hardware cloth.

 

[Schroeder]

Everyone talks about 2" x 4" welded wire to keep out the coons and dogs, but shouldn't I be worried about weasels too? I know different predators proliferate in different areas, but I thought weasels (and minks) are a problem over a wide area of the country. Why do so many of you use 2 x 4 instead of 1/2 " x 1/2"? I know the cost is much higher but....

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Many people use the small holed wire on the bottom 3rd and the other wire on the upper portions.

 

[patandchickens]

Weasels are awful difficult to keep out if they want in. They can go thru like a 1/2-3/4" gap.

I put 1/2" chickenwire on the lower part of the fence wire (mostly chainlink), more to keep chicken heads in, and raccoon arms out, and to make it not *totally* weasel-permeable. Not so much out of any illusion that I am defeating determined weasels or minks. But my chickens are closed in at night so I don't see that as being a major risk.

Pat