Injured chick

[Orcaj2]

Thanks so much for the advice, I will chec out the link and yes we have been working with the dogs, they are still super excited ( for the wrong reasons) about the chicks, but they are responding better to our commands. The chicks are not the same age as the one that survives the attack, but she's taken to them pretty good, morning's check showed them all sleeping together, in fact it looked like she was sitting on them, they were under her wings. I will post a picture of them later today. Might as well see who we are all talkin about! But thanks again, this Is a great place for resources and to meet people who look at chickens in a different light than most, it's nice and a comfort to know that I can get the help I need in a second.

 

[chickie farmer]

If you use a wooden fence, a dog, raccoon etc. will dig under it. I'd suggest your chain link fence with 1/2" hardware wire buried 10-12" under ground and up the sides about 3'. With chicken wire above the run for hawks etc. Animals who try to dig under it will most likely give up. For the gate, I buried a cement block in front of it with a few inches completely under the door. I hope this gives you some idea how to protect your ladies.

 

[Orcaj2]

Thank you, we planned on pounding rebar into the ground under the wood fencing and the we have a big role of horse fencing that we will bury under the ground below the chain link about a foot down, for digging deterrence. I would hope that would be enough but again we are going the mile to make sure their fortress is secure shy of digging a moat around the fence and filling it with alligators!!!

 

[chickie farmer]

If you use rebar, be sure it's close enough so rats, snakes or small varmints can't get through and build a nest under your coop. Plus I'd be leary about rebar (unless it's down quite a ways) because they could dig down about a foot, pull on the rebar and move it to one side. But I don't know for sure if they would do that, but it's possible. Raccoons are very smart. They can even open doors without some sort of lock on them. 1/2" hardware wire will keep raccoons from pulling parts of chickens through the fence, So I highly recommend it.

 

[Orcaj2]

Ok thanks for all the tips, it's appreciated! The coop will be reinforced with heavier hardware for sure it's a bit flimsy. I'll send the rebar info forward to my fiancé, thanks again