Lexan

[orebevie]

I have a lexan greenhouse I want to turn into a chicken coop, is it strong enough to withstand a raccoon attack?

 

[Elite Silkies]

I'm not sure, but my guess would be that a coon could get in it.

 

[ranchhand]

Hi,

!

Lexan is pretty tough stuff, but the real key is how it's installed and what the framework of the building is. It will need to be very heavily reinforced and braced, since it's flexible.

 

[imthedude]

ever tried to break a lexan cup or plate? it's tough for a human to do, so i don't think a raccoon could go through it. now go around it? maybe if it's not very securely attached.

 

[patandchickens]

Two answers, the second one making the first probably-irrelevant:

1) Coons are not going to break THROUGH a decent thickness of lexan, but most cheap greenhouses of that type that I've seen are built in a rather wibbly and pry-apart-able kind of way, and raccoons could certainly do THAT. Ask yourself, what could the strongest person I know, if armed with visegrip pliers and a small prybar, do to this? Thus, I would not trust it too far. But in point of fact,

2) unless this will be in perpetual full shade in a climate that never gets close to freezing (let alone below), you are not going to be able to keep chickens in a lexan greenhouse ANYhow -- they will COOK when the sun shines on it, and you will have severe condensation/humidity/frostbite problems in wintertime unless one whole side of it (or so) is permanently open. It might, or might not, be possible to salvage the frame and *some* of the lexan to reconfigure into a usable coop or run... but unless your situation is very very unusual, it wouldn't make a good coop or run "as is".

Good luck, have fun,

Pat