Fox in the hen house - how do foxes slip in, anyway?

[ChickenCanoe]

http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/game_weasel.shtml

 

[greggking]

Im 85 mi NW of phoenix 3500 ft elevation.hav not heard of any here.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yeah, I think that link has a range map. Apparently they're only at elevation. In most parts of the country they are usually around water sources.

I never had weasels in decades but they came last week.

 

[6of6chicks]

...

I never had weasels in decades but they came last week.

Maybe I'm just new and naïve, but I decided to predator-proof my coop & run for everything on the list regardless of whether or not it lives here. My logic is that if I go overboard for everything I can think of, then hopefully that will *accidently* cover all the other chicken-killers I don't even know about.

I did some googling today and it turns out I DO have weasels and foxes in my area. I had no idea. If you had asked me yesterday I would have sworn I didn't need to worry about those. I thought I had my run sealed up tight, but yesterday I found a 2 1/2 foot snake in there. That prompted yet another round of "predator proofing" - this time smearing concrete into every crack & crevice along the frame & using the concrete to "glue" the hardware cloth down.

I'd rather go insanely overboard and build a fortress rather than be sorry down the road. I don't want to wake up to a blood and a pile of feathers. I also want to be able to walk into the run and not fear that there is a copperhead (extremely common in my YARD) hiding under the straw. Was the extra hardware cloth expensive? Sure. But do I sleep better at night? Absolutely.

 

[RonP]

Can't beat a good nights sleep!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Maybe I'm just new and naïve, but I decided to predator-proof my coop & run for everything on the list regardless of whether or not it lives here. My logic is that if I go overboard for everything I can think of, then hopefully that will *accidently* cover all the other chicken-killers I don't even know about.
...

No, you've done the right thing.

 

[blinkk]

This was the snake:



About 2 1/2 feet long. My girls are 7 1/2 week old buff orpingtons, so they were too big for it to go after (thank goodness!!). The chickens didn't seem to care about the snake - they walked right on it's head. No-one even pecked at it. The snake didn't seem to care about them either. When I first noticed it they were all - snake AND chickens - sprawled out together in a patch of sun, lol!

Sorry OP - didn't mean to hijack your thread!

I'm just floored by how many things want to chow down on a tasty chicken dinner. Hopefully I don't have to deal with a fox myself someday. I have no idea if they're here in TX but it wouldn't surprise me. We seem to have just about everything else!

AH! That's scary. I have snakes all over the place but my chickens don't seem to mind them. Similar story to yours - they just walked around the coop and made normal chicken noises while the snake sunbathed next to them. My honey is good at picking up non-poisonous snakes (he's owned quite a few) so he went and remedied the problem.

No, don't worry. there's lots of great information packed into this thread. Thanks for the pictures everyone about how you reinforce your coops. I'm going to do a big renovation asap. And I like your game plan that says this:

Quote:
I think I'm about to adopt that philosophy too. As they say, better safe than sorry.