Hey y’all. Currently chicken less. Need help designing for less attrition

[chiknut]

Three years ago a coyote slipped into the chicken yard and killed eight chickens at roughly 4 o’clock in the afternoon. My husband and two dogs were outside. No electricity or water access. We have almost 4 acres here and Dayton Ohio. Behind us it’s a little over 20 acres That a new neighbor has turned into a four wheeler personal park. We have taken out a lot of bush honeysuckle and opened up the area.

Yes, we should’ve built a better yard. Now we’re retired and really don’t want to put a lot of money into this. I was considering some kind of electrical wire attached to the top of the chain-link but would appreciate some thoughts as to how to do that. One photo is from the deck at the back of the house looking down onto the chicken yard. The other photos are different perspectives. The great Dane is there for perspective. Thank you for your interest and suggestions. Realistically I’m not looking for 100% predator proof but I’d like to minimize the risk of more massacres.

 

[chiknut]

The size is roughly 40 x 60‘ with a 3 foot tall chain-link fence on half. 5 foot tall on the other half. It has been suggested that we move the chicken house into our backyard but we can’t see them readily or we may run into issues with that idea if we sell the house in five years

 

[Aunt Angus]

We use electric poultry netting, but you could easily add electricity to the fence and use either a battery or solar. I use battery because my area is heavily wooded, and we don't have enough sun for solar.

Buy the wire (very cheap), insulators (there are some made specifically to attach to chain link), and decide what kind of power you want to use. You'll also need a fence energizer. Solar is easy and reliable, but more expensive up front. I use batteries that I recharge. I have 3 batteries: one for the chickens, 1 for the goats, and one is a spare so that the fences are always powered, even when I'm recharging. You'll also need 1 - 2 grounding rods.

Put one wire about 6 in off the ground if you need to prevent diggers. I'd also put one a couple of feet up and one higher. Ground predators usually sniff before jumping, so it *should* repel even coyotes. However, coyotes can jump, so there will always be a risk. You can always add poles to "extend" the height of the fence just to hold the electric wires.

Once you have the wire up, find a good spot for the energizer so that it's accessible and sheltered. Pound in the grounding rods. I used a post pounder to start them and finished with a sledgehammer. It was actually pretty easy, considering. Attach the wires to the energizer and the ground wire to the grounding rods. Then hook it up to your power source.

I know I'm not explaining it perfectly. I was super intimidated when I first set up my system, but the fence retailers are very helpful (I highly recommend Premier1!). It is much easier than I thought.

We've had electric for a couple of years now, and we have SERIOUS predators here. Our fence has repelled curious black bears, foxes, raccoons, skunks, possum, and even dogs.

If you're concerned about hawks and other raptors like we are, you can pit heavy duty aviary netting over the whole thing.

 

[chiknut]

Thank you. My husband is a renaissance man as far as carpentry and home projects go. But these explicit instructions
Should help

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you. My husband is a renaissance man as far as carpentry and home projects go. But these explicit instructions
Should help

Shoot- can I borrow him to help me with my new barn???


Sorry! I misunderstood your question, then. Lemme put this better...

You can easily add electric that will help stave off coyotes.

 

[3KillerBs]

This should help with the electric: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry.72229/

 

[chiknut]

This should help with the electric: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry.72229/

Thank you