Fort Friggin Knox???

[Aunt Angus]

I JUST brought my flock home and put them in the new coop for the night. And whaddya know? A fox was in my yard!

To reiterate: The run is a welded wire dog kennel with a welded wire roof. Half inch hardware cloth is all around the perimeter with a 12 inch apron at a 90° angle to the run and buried under about 3 inches of soil. The coop is a converted wooden shed. There is one window (I ran out of time today, but I am cutting 5 more windows tomorrow). The one window is the kind of window you'd put in a house, and it's closed and locked for tonight. The coop has a door with a locking knob as well as a latch with a combination lock on it that is only accessible from the run. The run is bolted to the coop and secured to the ground.

They should be ok tonight, right?

The electric netting arrived today, but I will set it up tomorrow around the entire coop and run. It's the PermaNet 48" netting from Premier1. The three fence professionals I talked to said with 5000 volts all the way through to the end of the fence, it should stop even bears (knock on wood).

Ugh. This is nerve-wracking. Kudos to those of you who have dealt with these predator pressures for years! You are made of sterner stuff than I am.

 

[Aunt Angus]

It is now 1 am. I am trying to sleep on my couch next to the open patio door, which is above my coop (so if there is something out there, I'll hopefully hear it). The motion sensor lights keep going on because of a deer, but it's making me jumpy. Imma try to get some sleep.

 

[TARDIS37379]

Relax, it sounds like you’ve made it a tight fortress. Foxes won’t stay long to defeat security. They don’t like spotlights either.

 

[M Brennen]

Hi.

I am FINALLY moving to rural Nevada County in California. We got all kinds of nasty predators out there: coyote, fox, bobcat, hawks, owls, mountain lion, bears.... oh my!

I hear different things from different neighbors, but I figure I'd better be safe and do what I can to keep all them nasty things out. Here's what we are planning:

• 8x10 shed turned coop on cement pad
• Wire dog kennel with 1/4" hardware cloth all around and a solid roof
• Electric wire 6" from the ground and another wire a couple of feet above that - around the entire run AND coop
• A 2 ft hardware cloth apron around the coop for now (will bury one straight down when we relocate it); the hc will be buried a couple of inches down and staked
• There will be no door outside of the run (I will walk into the run to access the coop)

I know there is no such thing as totally predator-proof, but am I on the right track? Anything I am overlooking? Anything else I can do???

ETA: Electric wire will be 5,000 volts at least. Too much? Not enough?

Sounds like you hit all the important aspects!

 

[ChickieBaby88]

Another thing you can do to keep digging animals at bay... dig a ditch around the base of the coop, just above harware cloth skirting, and burry razor wire. This way its some extra detterent for something digging in. They get shocked for going to the fence directly, and injure paws trying to dig.
Also, those poor dogs... and poor chickens.
some jerk took my neighbors expensive service dog and dumped it in a rural area hours away. (Has footage of the dog being stollen)Her dog was only found because a farmer shot and killed it 8 months later running on his property, and called the number on the tags. My neighbor nearly lost it, he was a vetran and had to be hospitalized for what i assume was mental health reasons after that.
Im glad you set up better protection for your chickens so you dont have to kill anymore dogs just trying to survive in the wild they dont belong in...
Maybe you should report to authorities about dogs being abandoned? Terrible situation.

Sadly, awful people dump beautiful animals in rural areas. I have found homes for many cats and dogs over the years since I moved to Kentucky. The "authorities" do nothing. I would not shoot to kill a dog. Unless it was rabid or vicious I would do my best to lure it away from the bird area with food and try to find a home for it. I am hoping to build a coyote proof coop for a new flock this spring. This thread has given me some good information. Thank you.