In my area, i'm vulnerable to hawks and coyotes. How would I prevent them from coming near my coop? THX!
The hawks attack from the sky so a covering over the run is a good idea. If that isn't possible provide a few sheltering places for the chickens to run under. Coyotes attack from below. They will dig under your fencing unless you add a "skirt" out from your run fence. Coyotes are also able to climb or jump a pretty high fence so we're back to covering the run with something pretty substantial. Many people here have dogs that are trained to protect their animals. That may deter a small coyote pack, but do nothing to thwart a hawk. Where coyotes run you are likely to find raccoon, opossum, weasels, and other preying varmints. Besides the fence skirt and covered run, it seems that a lot of folks here suggest running electric wires on their fence. Keeping "them from coming near my coop" isn't something I wouldn't expect is possible for most of us mere mortals. Good luck with your chickens! Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening zone 5a - 4b in south-est, central-est Wisconsin
Are your chickens allowed to freerange or are they kept in a secured run and coop? If your run and coop are secured then you have nothing more to worry about than you would having a varmit getting into your own house. Most predator/animals come out at night so although there is some concern during the day most worry would come at night. Hawks are out during the day and as long as you have some kind of over head cover for your chickens they should be ok. The best cover is some type of bushes/shrubs. I have also used palstic decoy crows to scare off hawks since crows are known to harass hawks. My run is not covered but I did zigzag some string across the top of it. That prevents a hawk from being able to fly down into it. Although I live in a suburban area I have a two acre yard as well as do all my neighbors. There are open yards as well as woods and a creek so we have all kinds of varmits. Owls, Hawks, Raccons, Possums, Foxes, Coyotes but the most trouble I ever had came from some dogs runniong loose! I don't think there is much you can do to keep them away from your coop. You can try electric wire but depending on where you live that might be against local codes.
