Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My (predator prevention/protection)

[Chickeninthemeadow]

So, lets see, I know we have squirrels, rabbits, and deer around here. So, foxes, snakes, and other things probably won't be far behind. In fact, we think we heard a hiss of an animal (I wasn't there but the first thing that comes to my mind is a snake) near the run tonight. The birds won't be there for a few more weeks, but what else can I do in converting a chain link dog kennel fence into a chicken run to protect my feathered friends from those who want a free chicken dinner?

Considering biting the bullet and buying hardware cloth each week till I have enough. I'm wondering about other repellents as well. I've always heard sulfur works well.

 

[dbounds10]

buy the harware cloth, you will hear it over and over. I am almost done converting my chainlink dog kennel. We bought 1/4 harware cloth that was 48"
3 feet of it went on the wall with the last foot buried at the bottom for an apron. You will also have to cover it with something to keep the hawks and wild birds out. We are building a PVC frame and covering with shade cloth and then a heavy duty tarp over that. just could not afford to buy more HWC. I am sure we will do the same thing you are and start buying a little at a time and then when we have enough cover the top with it

 

[ralleia]

How tall is the kennel fence?

dbounds is absolutely on track with the hardware cloth. That lines the whole perimeter of my chicken run (buried 6" deep in heavy clay soil) and also surrounds any gardens that I intend to keep!

Snakes aren't *usually* a problem--unless it's a huge snake, the chickens are more likely to eat the snake than the other way around. Chickens are miniature velicoraptors with feathers.

I wouldn't buy hardware cloth a little at a time--the smaller rolls are typically more expensive per foot than a longer roll. Save up and get the whole roll that you will need. The hardware cloth is the single most important part of protecting your chickens.

We have squirrels, rabbits, deer, wild turkeys, fox, opossums, raccoon, birds of prey, and an occasional coyote here. So far the only problem that we have had is when we got into the habit of leaving the chicken's pop-door open for the warm nights, and something (coon, fox or possum) started eating chickens. Our run is fenced with chicken wire up to about 6 feet with the bottom half lined with hardware cloth. The top is open.

 

[Chickeninthemeadow]

We're converting an old dog kennel on the property, it is around 8 foot tall (she had fence jumpers). The bottom half is normal chain link and the top part is a different type of fencing, (the wire rectangle grid thing kind). That same kind of fencing is around the bottom too and aprons inside (cause the dog's also tried to dig out). I have a feeling that in the end, we're going to be dealing with something similar to Fort Knox at the rate we're going.

I figure the snakes we have around here are copperheads and water moccasins and probably not too big (3 footers are all I've seen as road kill anyway). Apart from them, common grass/rat/corn snakes are possible.

I plan to buy the long rolls, but I know I'll need at least 2 and possibly 3. Perhaps I'll measure the length of the fence later today. As for hawks, I plan to put up at least deer netting and hang pie plates from it. I heard pie plates help repel the birds. When I can upgrade to something stronger, I will.

 

[georgiagail]

Although we live in the city, we have a number of "critters" visting our area; probably because on my street, the lots end in a small creek/stream that enters into a nearby small lake. In addition, there is still quite a lot of old growth trees on these lots.

As a result, we've had raccoons, possums, squirrels, snakes, turtles, owls, hawks; even a fox I used to see early in the morning. One summer we trapped about dozen raccoons that were getting into our bulbs.

Like others who have posted here, our run is a dog kennel (six feet high). We ran chicken wire on the bottom (attached to the frame), 36" hardware cloth around the sides, PVC pipe along the top with further hardware cloth attached to that. A picture of the...literally....couple of thousand zip ties that went into this:

We're building a second bantam coop/run and will do the same thing; chain link fencing, chicken wire attached to the bottom, hardware cloth wrapped around, a roof of hardware cloth over the top.

Gail