Heartbroken after losing 75+ birds, 2 turkeys, & 10 ducks.

[WthrLady]

So very sorry for your loss! I am hatching eggs as we speak and 10x30 pen being built, we ended up spending the extra money and got hardware cloth, i was abke to find it on amazon for $280 i got 2 rolls of 4ftx100 1/2 holes, it is really nice...free shipping got it in a few days! I know price is still high and thats the cheapest i found and looked for months, but its worth it to do it right the first time! we are also laying foot wide pieces alomg the whole bottom on the outside to avoid digging in, im not burying it but attaching to the bottom piece of wood securely, same as burying it but easier, worls the same way, i may even cover all that with ornamental rocks for looks and extra security, i deal with the same predators you listed and we are new to our area (1year here) so we havent experience it yet..add 1 hawk family and an owl family that live here as well! My neighbor gave upon chcikens we are just beginning, but mine will not be free ranged unless we are here to watch them!

don't bother with rocks, the hens will just dig them up. Use hearty metal lawn staples and just use them to tack the cloth down. The grass with be up and through within two weeks. The thatch will totally cover the wire within a season.

 

[Darlene415]

don't bother with rocks, the hens will just dig them up. Use hearty metal lawn staples and just use them to tack the cloth down. The grass with be up and through within two weeks. The thatch will totally cover the wire within a season.

No my rocks will be on the OUTSIDE of the pen as the hardwired cloth will also be. basically the rocks will just service as decoartion to cover the foot lonf hardware cloth that extends off bottom of pen, but on outside not inside, i say rocks i mean big rocks, not stones or pebbles, chickens will be inside so they cant did up any way, yes the grass growing thru the hardwire is what i want to avoid, it looks sloppy, i will have to weedwack it so more work and high grass brings snakes, we keep all our grass as short as possible, even in the pasture as we have no livestock, it is cut down short every week! and all our hardwaire cloth is being put on with screws and washers holding it, i have stapled nothing, staaples are not as predator proof and I am trying t ogo the ectra mile to avoid any heart ache later! I'm spending the extra money and extra time of doing this pen as predator proof as I can make it! I know there's no guarantee but I will try my best!

 

[WthrLady]

I assumed your no dig hardware was on the outside as would be your stone. My freeranger hens can kick mexican river stones 4 inches around looking for bugs and crickets. My hardware cloth has been absorbed by the lawn and is cut to 2 inches once a week. You just can't tell it's there.

 

[WthrLady]

and the staples are landscaping staples, they hold the hardware cloth to the ground so it doesn't pop up, it lays flat and becomes one with the lawn.

 

[cmom]

My extra mile is electric wire around my pens and coops, concrete under the gates and heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. I did this several years ago and haven't lost a bird to a predator since.

 

[cmom]

I see a lot of predators roaming on my property most every night as I have several game cameras in different places on my property, so I know what I'm dealing with.