Final stage...Finally!

[Baumshell28]

So, without a reason to tear it down, the coop from previous owners still stands. The plan was to tear down the old 4x4’s & fencing and replace with same thing...just not rotted! Had the girls up in a temp “play pen” the other day to let some energy out & realized the white tailed kite “neighbor” was very intent on teaching her baby how to hunt my hens. Me being less than 5 ft away at the time seemed not to dissuade them at all! After rethinking the structure & considering all my hens neighbors (owls, hawks, kites, dogs, raccoons) we decided to put them in a totally enclosed area. Metal T-posts & a pvc “roof” all covered in 4”x2” fencing with certain areas reinforced with a layer of chicken wire. Trenched at the bottom to attach & bury chicken wire which is then anchored by edgers & pavers. I will tidy everything up a bit with a chicken friendly herb & flower garden that the girls can pick at from the run, but hopefully not destroy since they won’t be able to scratch at the bottom of the plants...we’ll see how that part goes!

 

[Sequel]

Good for you! Many of us don't learn that till we have a heart wrenching disaster! The only thing I can suggest is using hardware cloth along the bottom and as an apron rather than chicken wire. Chicken wire is good at keeping chickens contained but marauding dogs and raccoons etc have no problem ripping through it. Good job so far, I wish you all the best!

 

[TropicalBabies]

Wonderful! Welcome to BYC and chickens and all of the fun.

K. true confessions, I thought your White Tailed Kite was neighborhood kids who flew a kite and had a lax parent... he he he- not as quick or sharp as I used to be .

Yes, glad for you and your sharp eyes and abilities to see the future relationship between hawk and chickens. I like your set up, it looks like it will work very well.

 

[Kdlevesque]

Did something very similar with the PVC pipe and aviary netting on the top. It looks homemade for sure but I’m proud of what we accomplished! We have two hens in the house on the right and in the little one we have two mothers and seven babies. We live in a neighborhood so we don’t have a lot of predators but I do close them up at night but during the day my biggest problem was the fear of hawks.

 

[BackyardJulz]

Aerial attacks are so sad, had a Cooper's Hawk decimate by bantam clutch. So, good for you to get your hens under good protection.