Hardware cloth vs chicken wire

[MeepBeep]

and then a pack of coyotes will come by the next night.

Coyotes come by my place nightly, and would come even closer and pose a real risk if I didn't have my llamas and dog keeping them away from the buildings... I see their fresh tracks in the snow all winter long so I'm well aware they visit every night and how close the come while looking for an opportunity... I can also regularly hear them howling away just out of sight at night... I also have a fox that frequents the area...

Then comes the attack squadron of raccoons the following night

I had a very large raccoon visiting every night for the last few months, and he/she totally ignored my dog that would go ballistic every night letting me know the coon was roaming around on the other side of the fence... Never was able to get a clean line of sight to take a shot and remove the threat before it did more then knock over the garbage cans or raid whatever else was left outside the fenced area... Lucky for me a passing car took care of that problem this last weekend...

The stray wild dog posts always make me laugh...like seriously how many people have random packs of dogs running around their neighborhoods??

First the dog doesn't need to be feral nor does it take a pack of them to cause huge damage, a one hour escaped pet dog can be just as deadly... Although you likely don't see it in densely populated cities all that often, loose running, unleashed dogs and un-fenced dogs are actually quite common in many places especially rural areas... My neighbor a few blocks away from me (who is also a member here) has had her birds attacked multiple times this year from a neighbors dog, it happens...

I also have multiple Red-Tailed hawks and at least one Coopers hawk patrolling my yard pretty much every day while a Great Horned Barn owl patrols at night...

I would be foolish to believe my chickens were not at risk every day and night, and if I only had a few and called them 'pets' I would certainly invest in more security, but since I have over 100 birds and most are considered 'livestock' to me I'm personally not over concerned about some disappearing... People that call them 'dear pets' are likely to have a completely different outlook vs people who consider them livestock...

Also every location varies, you might find it not to be the case in your area, but that isn't to say it's not the case somewhere else... The wild dog being one of these, my father in law in rural Arkansas has a feral dog problem in his area, they do actually roam around in packs during the days and nights, he has had several of his outdoor cats attacked by them...

I know for me at least, the birds face a real daily and nightly threat on multiple fronts, that is something that has to be addressed to some degree if I want them to survive...

 

[DreamsInPink]

A lot of people on here assume that everyone has gobs of money to throw down on protecting chickens. I fully understand some people are more attached to their birds than others but no one should be shamed for not spending ridiculous amounts of money on hardwire cloth. Let's face it, these chickens are extremely "cheap" animals to buy. I can replace 3 dozen chickens before I had enough hardwire cloth to cover everything I would like to. I don't like losing a bird anymore than the next guy but I also have come to terms with it being the circle of life.

Some people on here also over exaggerate the predator pressure that most will encounter. I've seen posts that people act like if you don't buy hardwire cloth your gonna have a pack of stray wild dogs rip through your yard, and then a pack of coyotes will come by the next night. Then comes the attack squadron of raccoons the following night, and the list goes on. The stray wild dog posts always make me laugh...like seriously how many people have random packs of dogs running around their neighborhoods??

I have lost about 4 birds in almost 2 years. 2 from Hawks. One from my wife's aunts dog (we had our flock living there temporarily while we moved to our new house and the girls decided they wanted to fly over her aunts fence into the dogs area...that was my hens fault not the dog) and one more was eaten by a unknown animal outside our house about 5 months ago. Stuff happens when you free range. But all anyone can do is make a reasonable effort to protect your flock. Going all Fort Knox and spending your life savings isn't the end all be all solution either.

I totally understand not having tons of $$ to buy hardware cloth. We just bought 2 rolls today. 3' x 10' each. $15.99 each. And that's about enough to do half of the coop. Well, no, not even half.... cause I have windows to put in yet too. And that's not counting the secure run. I understand that a lot of folks here just want to help. And I appreciate it. I get that chickens are cheap to buy initially. But once I invest my time and $, I'm not so willing to gamble. And when I say $, it's not so much just the cost of the chicks, but also the feed. Like now, I have a batch of chicks that are 7 weeks old. 6 of them are cornish cross, so they've been eating a lot. Not to mention the 7 weeks I've invested in them. I don't want to start over. So, even though my bf is ready to choke me and thinks it's ridiculous to secure the coop to this degree, I bought hardware cloth. Because, to me, it's not worth the risk. I don't know yet what predators we have here... other than raccoons.. which are a major worry all by themselves. Crafty little boogers.

What I don't like is people putting a guilt trip on you. Making you feel like a total loser if you choose not to do things their way. I totally appreciate advice and guidance, but don't try to bully me into adopting your practices and making me feel like an unfit chicken owner if I don't agree.

 

[adkhunter1590]

All this talk of predators and I forgot I had this cool pic of a bobcat I caught on trail camera. I too have coyotes roaming very close to the house so I've been trying to be proactive on "controlling" their population around here. I used a dead chicken that died on a integration gone wrong as bait to try and lure them in so I could ambush them. I did get the coyotes on camera and raccoons too. But this bobcat gave me some cool shots.

I'm a avid hunter (even used to be a hunting guide out west) so I try and do my part on predator control whenever I can. They can't hurt my flock if I put them to sleep first!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MeepBeep]

I caught on trail camera.

I believe that in many cases if people installed trail cameras around their yard they might be surprised at what visits over the course of several months in many areas...

No bobcat concerns for me just yet, I'm located on the furthest reaches of their current range only a handful of sightings in the area over the last decade, but I suspect in 10 or 20 years that will change as the native bobcat population grows just like it has exploded for coyotes in the area in recent years making them an everyday thing now instead of rare even in many urban areas...

 

[reptileink]

So, I basically live within this circled area. Highly dense human population (much to my chagrin). I have seen in the 10 years living here, stray cats, raccoons, opossum, red tail hawk, and a screech owl.

I know, many more critters can live in the city that we never see, but I am not fully convinced I have coyote roaming the town, or for that matter, bobcats or any "large" predators.

 

[MeepBeep]

or any "large" predators.

I'm guessing at least one of your neighbors has a large dog and if they ever get loose, they would pose a 'large' predator threat...

 

[aart]

So, I basically live within this circled area. Highly dense human population (much to my chagrin). I have seen in the 10 years living here, stray cats, raccoons, opossum, red tail hawk, and a screech owl.

I know, many more critters can live in the city that we never see, but I am not fully convinced I have coyote roaming the town, or for that matter, bobcats or any "large" predators.

Raccoons alone are enough to warrant HC on coop...and good latches.

 

[adkhunter1590]

So, I basically live within this circled area. Highly dense human population (much to my chagrin). I have seen in the 10 years living here, stray cats, raccoons, opossum, red tail hawk, and a screech owl.

I know, many more critters can live in the city that we never see, but I am not fully convinced I have coyote roaming the town, or for that matter, bobcats or any "large" predators.

More power to ya for living in a densely populated area like that! I know I couldn't do it. I take my privacy and tranquility to heart and would rather die than live in a city area. But your right you will most likely never see a coyote in a area like that. They will tend to stick closer to wooded areas so they have somewhere to escape too. Not saying one won't ever venture into a town but it would most likely be the out skirts. You look to be well into the center of a populated area so you should be fine on the coyote side of things.

 

[calvertcounty]

Yea, I mean, I hate to cheap out when it comes to the lives of our chickens, but money isn't actually flowing right now...lol.

We live dead center in a city, and I know there are predators in a city, but not sure really how big they are. We have raccoons, opossums, cats, and that's about it. Never seen a dog in my yard in 10 years (or even on the street). I know once chickens come around though, predators come as well.

I'll probably just bite the bullet and grab some cloth here and there until I complete it. This whole coop didn't cost me more than about $200, so to drop that amount on hardware cloth is just hard to stomach...lol. We are only getting 3 chickens, so it would suck to have 1 or 2 get caught by a predator.

Amazon has some surprisingly good prices on hardware cloth. $200 will get you about 700-800 sq ft of 1/2 inch hardware cloth (19 gauge).

 

[MeepBeep]

Amazon has some surprisingly good prices on hardware cloth.

So does Walmart.com

And if you catch Menards when they are running their 11% off everything rebate, it's generally the best local deal I have found short of clearance items...