It's killing them ;_;

[ILuvChickenLuv]

I have a giant problem! I used to have 7 chickens but three nights ago a predator (we think it was a raccoon) somehow was able to rip a pice of wood that was screwed in off and killed three of our chickens. Another day went by and I decided to check on the remaining 4 after walking my dog. I was confused when I saw one out of the run and I put my dog inside and got the chicken. My parents came out and my dad saw a big hole in the chicken wire that was about 4 feet long and was a clean rip there was feathers of one of our other chickens and now we only have 3 chickens my dad put extra cinder blocks we had along the hole and we put the chickens in the basement for the night. I'm glad we did that because the wire was bent showing that something went back in. I'm not sure if it was the raccoon again or maybe a fox? I really want to find a way to prevent another predator from killing them thank you in advance :T

 

[mtngirl35]

Hi. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your chickens. Chicken wire is meant to keep chickens in but its not good at keeping anything out. I would replace the chicken wire with 1/4" or 1/2" wire mesh. You can leave the chicken wire on and just put he wire mesh over it. Its much more effective against predators. I usually buy it at Tractor Supply or Lowes. Also go over your coop and re-enforce any area that looks like something could reach in or pry a piece off.

 

[ILuvChickenLuv]

thank you ^^ I'll try that

 

[Trefoil]

If you shop around you can get hardware cloth (1/4 or 1/2") at decent prices. I've gotten it at wayfair, Amazon, and ebay. Depending on who was cheapest when I wanted it. The TSCs in my area only handle 2' and 23' lengths and its more expensive.

 

[gawildlife]

Google wire gauge and do some reading on wire strengths, also look at GAW, GBW. I know technical terms but when you understand many tighter meshes like 1/4 uses very light gauge wire and weaker welds vs heavier gauge and stronger welds.
In my line of work quality wire is important. Look to one of the supply houses like bass equipment, klubbertanz, or louis-page and read their online catalogs to see what wire meshes are available.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Sorry for your lose. I agree that you should reinforce the coop. were do you live? it could be a bigger predator such as a dog or possibly a bear depending on were you live. Do you have a game camera? once you reinforce the coop I would ''test'' it by hanging a piece of meat inside to see if the coop is predator proof.