Importance of Predator Proofing

[dunnmom]

Hello all! I just wanted to stop by and stress the importance of protecting your poultry via predator proofing, even if you live in the middle of a city. For new builders, I feel the need to speak up about not assuming there are very few threats to your investment.

Recently, my sister's 4 hens and 2 ducks were massacred by what we believe were foxes. We'd been told by many people that there are no foxes living in our city's limits, but we have actually seen them with our own eyes in a few of our city parks. We also see hawks on a pretty regular basis, and hear the occasional owl. My mom has lost a couple of her seramas to predation in the past, as well.

We live in a large city, but still predators are a problem. We have stray cats, stray dogs, opposums, raccoons, and many other poultry terrorists. We've also lost 3 of our flock to stray dogs.

All I'm saying is you don't want to have to find out which predators are near you the hard way. Please spend the extra money on hardware cloth as opposed to chicken wire, mind the size of gaps, and make sure to use locks that are difficult to undo for small hands. It is also really handy to bury concrete blocks under the edges of your coop and run, for the digging animals.

Thanks for reading, and happy building!

 

[Smuvers Farm]

 

[aart]

It is also really handy to bury concrete blocks under the edges of your coop and run, for the digging animals.

Aprons are better and easier.
Good examples, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

 

[dunnmom]

Aprons are better and easier.
Good examples, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

Recommend what you want, but there's been no problems with what we've used, and it wasn't difficult. There's more than one way to get good results. It really depends on your needs and what you are going for as far as design, construction, and budget.

 

[aart]

Recommend what you want, but there's been no problems with what we've used, and it wasn't difficult. There's more than one way to get good results. It really depends on your needs and what you are going for as far as design, construction, and budget.

So this thread does not allow options?

 

[dunnmom]

Of course it does. That's why I put, "recommend what you want".

 

[Mr Pink]

Excellent thread ... I cringe often when seeing and reading people's post here about their plans to keep chickens , and most certainly there is more wishful thinking then common sense planning on some folks part !

Chicken predators don't live in a fairytale world and will exploit every little flaw in your security ... if what I'm saying wasn't true there wouldn't be some many horror stories in the " predator section " of this site !

 

[dunnmom]

You are right! I have a saying that goes, 'Common sense isn't so common'. Lots of people make mistakes when trying something new, much to the chagrin of people who know what they're doing already. Then there's the old 'good intentions' saying, too.

Understandably, with chickens in particular, we newbies don't always realize there's a huge learning curve, and it can mean the difference between life and death for our chickens.

In my case, I did not grow up with chickens, or around a lot of aggies. I'm basically learning on the job, and this site has been SO valuable because I get to glean knowledge and wisdom from folks that have way more experience than me.

I appreciate the patience and willingness to help from a lot of the 'chicken-wise' folks who have helped me figure out what to do when I run into problems. Makes all of the difference in the world.