My girls just spent their first night outdoors in their coop. There are six of them, 5 weeks old. Of course I was worried about them, though I did wonder if I was just being paranoid. I know we have raccoons wandering about at night and I've seen hawks during the day, but now all of a sudden my husband sees a fox on his way out this morning. I'd asked him to open the lower hatch of the coop so the girls could go out into their run when he left for work at 6am. It was daylight when he left and as he was pulling out he saw a fox run into the woods. He'd been not 30 feet from our tractor, in my front yard.
I guess he'd been stalking my girls.
My set-up is a tractor with an enclosed coop. The run part is fully covered with chicken wire, including the bottom. The three doors to the coop are latched with two simple barrel bolts each and the lower hatch that swings up to let them go down the ramp into the run latches closed with a simple hook and eye closure. I feel (felt
) like they were safe out in their run during the day and the coop at night. Now I'm wondering and worried. I have just come in from installing my son's retired video baby monitor to the inside of the coop so I can watch watch and listen to them. Is there any way that fox can get into my coop or run? And, isn't it unusual that the fox would have been out during the daylight? We live in a mainly residential area...there is a subdivision bordering two sides of our lot. I'm even wondering if my dogs are safe out in the yard. Not happy right now.
In this one you can see the lower hatch (in the back of the coop) that leads to the ramp for the run. The door is latched to the wall when it's open and closes with a simple hook and eye latch.
Another view of the hatch.
In this one you can see the lower hatch (in the back of the coop) that leads to the ramp for the run. The door is latched to the wall when it's open and closes with a simple hook and eye latch.
Another view of the hatch.
