First time loss

[Christmas Chick]

Last night we lost 2 of our 6 chicken's an we re devastated..We have had them for a year and a half and though we do live on 5 acres where we have seen raccoons, opossums, and many years ago a coyote, we have never had a problem. We found one right by the coop and we could see that something had pushed the wire mesh in and probably pulled one out. We have not found the other one yet. We are now going to reinforce the coop. Should we relocate the coop? It is right outside the fence that is around our house and I want to bring it into that area closer to the house. Our Labs, who are great with the chickens would be able to get to anything that comes near the coop. Of course they are inside with us at night. Any suggestions? I am sure that whatever got them will be back tonight for more.

 

[RoosterRiot]

What kind of wire mesh do you have? If it's only 1 or 2 inch hex netting (chicken wire) I recommend putting 1/4 inch hardware cloth (welded wire) along the bottom 3 or 4 feet. This will keep little grabby raccoon hands out.

 

[Christmas Chick]

We do have the smaller mesh, but we started to reinforce some areas of the wood and some of it was weakened by all the rain we have had here in middle Florida. We are fixing/replacing what looks like it could be an issue. I will still move the coop closer to our home, and I hope that will help to keep them safe as well.