I need help to protect my chickens

[Kyleharry16]

I am a future chicken rasier planing to get 35 Gold Sex Link chickens this month. I needed advice though because there is a lot of trees behind our house and I belive a pretty good amount of predators. Any help would be nice.
Thanks-
Kyle

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

oh boy, well first Welcome and I would start by setting a trap each night to start catching varmits willing to enter it looking for food. Next I would use Hardware cloth and dig down about a foot and line the bottom of the hen house/run so nothing can dig in. Third I would use good latches to lock the doors, like dog hooks that hook the collar to the leash..... and I wish you lots and lots of luck..

 

[centrarchid]

If space available, dog best option. Even if it gets out to leave signs only once a day it will provide some anti-predator effects.

 

[BrattishTaz]

Make sure your coop and run are solid and secure and do not use chicken wire.

 

[pjknust]

I agree on the Dog. I have 2 male dogs in my back yard. My coop is NOT secure by any means. I live at the lake in a small neighborhood. In 3 yrs Ive had only one attack, due to my not locking the hens up at night. IT killed 6 in one night. I had not been letting the dogs in the chicken yard for quite a while. I had forgot about the dogs marking the fence line. It really works. Now days when the hens are let out for the day, the gate gets open so the dogs and come and go. When hens go to bed, the gate gets shut. (my hen house is not in the garden/chicken yard) So far so good.

 

[Kyleharry16]

But could the dog get attacked cause I don't want my precious girl getting hurt

 

[centrarchid]

Depends on size, age and physical condition of dog. If she is >40 pounds odds are even a coyote will avoid her immediate vicinity. A much smaller dog will still keep most of the smaller predators (racoons, foxes) out.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I have successfully kept predators out of my coops/runs for years and it's really not that hard. Sturdy coop/run, hardware cloth, no chicken wire. Solid doors and latches that cannot be opened by animals like racoons. And the biggest deterrent, a few strands of hot wire. One around the outside about 6 or 8 inches off the ground. Another one along the top of the run fence to discourage climbing although my run is covered. I also have a couple dogs, that is a really big help. Some people use electric poultry netting as an added defense.

I have never bothered with traps or sitting around with a gun waiting for some critter to appear. I just make it so they can't get in and can't get to any food either. If they don't get a meal at your place they will keep going. And honestly I don't really give a rats butt what passes by in the night as long as they can't get in. Now I am sure a bear could get into my coop, I do not have those to worry about!

 

[bryan99705]

I agree with cafarmgirl.
The best start to turning away predators is a good electric fence. Don't be cheap. get one with 5 - 6 joules and plan it out so a climber can't climb around it (ie a tree with low hanging branches). Clear the ground where the wire will run, set the posts (pre-insulated step-in posts are great) run the lowest wire about 4" off the ground (not the grass) run the second about 4" above the first, run the last two strands evenly spaced with the top one at the highest spot on the posts. This will provide great deterrance for anything from possum to grizzleys.

Go tall on the fence and avoid running a top rail between posts. A shaky wire fence will deter a grey fox from climbing over. A top rail on a fence provides a perch for hawks to sit while choosing dinner or waiting for a chicken to step out from a hiding spot. If they perch on the posts, drill a hole in the top and stand a piece of heavy wire (about 6 inches) in it and that will stop every thing but a stork from

As for flying predators, it's a crapshoot. Alert aggressive roosters are great to warn the flock as long as they have cover to run to. Brushpiles, pallets on stilts, sunshade, etc make great hides as well as providing shade in the yardperching on it..

Laying the skirting on the ground with the inside edge attached to the base of the run wire (hog rings work great) will stop a digger before they can even start and it disapprears as the grass grows thru it plus you can mow right over it.

If rats are a issue in the coop, keep the feed stored in metal cans and the founts and feeders away from the coop. Also elevate the coop so they don't have a inviting dark place to live.

If snakes are a concern, loosly lay deer netting around the run, they will get tangled up in it.