FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[micanopy-chick]

i am from micanopy florida

at the moment i have
1 austerlop rooster
10 golden americanas
8 guinnes
30 hatchlings
1 bared rock jap rooster
14 buff orpintins
4 road island reds
10+back yard runs


and i just got started lol with chickens of my own in feb. lol

( my actule thought prosess lol)

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

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I remember this coop, ok first thing that jumps at me is the chicken wire, (good to keep chickens in) it won't protect against any predator. They can reach through it, chew through it and pull it apart when digging at it. I would replace with hardware cloth, if you out it on the inside you should sandwich it between the outer coop framing and boards on the inside held tight with screws. That is the first thing that jumps at me from the pictures.

We have chicken wire on a 12x12' flight pen, but no one stays out in it overnight currently. As soon as I finish staining the wood we will be using welded field fence around the outside for strength.

Shellie

 

[carolsaucier]

Shellie's right chicken wire only good for fencing a run or yard. For coop you really need hardware cloth. Our girls spend day in a 12 X 20 run and nights in hardsided coop with hardware cloth and chicken wire floors. Also coons can easily go thru your chicken wire, our fence is bent from coons going both over and under it at night. In July 5 coons went to neighbors stew pot.

 

[AspiringUrbaniteFarmer]

Thanks, we already replaced the wire, errr....stapled over it with tight knit wire. My pinky doesn't even fit in these holes, so hopefully that will help. Now for the "gaps" the roof makes (triangular all around with the way the metal is molded) I plan on getting that foam insulation spray & running that around the inside/top of the coop. I am going to look for low-voc foam, if that exists, b/c I know birds have sensitive respiratory systems. Thanks for the input, luckily my neighbor came to my quick rescue & helped me reinforce the coop last night. She has four RIRs, she already had the wire, the staple gun, & a nice wire cutter. She is so hardcore!

Also, fun fact... her Rhode Island Reds laid their first egg the other morning. It was a double-yolk! I wonder what the odds of that are! VERY COOL! Seems like good luck or something.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Quote:
I would go over the hardware cloth with screws and washers, or sandwich between the coop frame and new wood added. Staples are easy to put in, and coons can push enough to work them loose. U nails also work better than staple gun staples. Coons will also dig at the foam until it is gone. The triangular openings would add ventilation, enclose them with hardware cloth as well, with the sandwich method,mor at least U nails.

Our BA laid double yolkers constantly her first year, now she is I her second year and lays nice large deep brown eggs. Suspecting her production or shell color, or both will decrease next year as it will be her third year laying.

 

[TheJuan-n-Only]

Quote:

 

[carolsaucier]

Coons are resourceful and have destroyed our trap, so make sure that no food is left in coop overnight. They have come thru our screen porch and opened a plastic bucket that holds cat food several times.

 

[AspiringUrbaniteFarmer]

Hm, cutting the wire in triangles & fastening it to a metal roof are both going to be very difficult. Uhm.... any suggestions?

I noticed the guy who built to coop used "super staples" to fasten the chicken wire. OH! Those were U-nails. Will pick those up & reinforce the wire further with those today. The guy who built the coop said this about the coop, "Wow, that is awful!! But I cannot even imagine how a hawk could do any of those things? I am really thinking something like a very motivated raccoon or possum must have pushed the roof up or something. My coop is made nearly the exact same way with identical wire and I have never lost one bird in it. That is really terrible. If you want, I may be able to come over after work one afternoon and take a look at it. "

I invited him to come-by. The thing is, the hawk didn't go through the roof. He stuck his talons through the gaping hole in the plain old chicken wire & grabbed the birds. Why weren't the birds smart enough to move to the center of the coop? I have no idea. I never said I was raising genius chickens here.... I am guessing the hawk caught them by surprise?! I'm so nervous now.

I was also considering placing one of those "dummy owls" on top of the coop. Is that a silly idea?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

The roof should be attached to wood framing yes? You can add the wire there, or are you talking about the small openings the corrugated roof makes where it touches the wood frame? If it's the small openings, you can just screw a wood board on the inside to help block those openings, nay thing going in those spots would be a snake.

 

[carolsaucier]

Woobles favorite activity. She is still a loner but loves her some little girls.