Lost 3 chicks last night!

[chickenwoods]

Alright i did not catch anything last night..but i didnt lose any chickens last night! I guess thats ok to lol

 

[boomerge]

i would use 1/2 19ga as it is small enough to keep out predators and heavy enogh wire to hold if you use enough staples 1/4" is 23ga

 

[Chatychick]

Yep it sounds like you have a raccoon problem and they will come back. They will reach through the wire and pull a chicken no matter what size and eat it right through the wire. 1 thing I have found is to use tin up the sides of the walls and then the wire with slats nailed or screwed on as they can pull the poultry staples out. Also you need a more solid place that they cant reach through and close the babies up at nite. I have a hawk problem here and have foiled them but have had a coon problem also and skunks too. The skunks will dig under and the coons will reach through so the 1/4 wire if its strong enough will work but coons have really strong jaws and can bite rite thru it. If your coop ares is solid with vents and it has enough ventilation they will roost inside and then close the door. I made mine where the sides are solid and have wire on the bottom and they have a door to come and go but not at night. They are shut in where they cant be gotten at. Good luck

 

[ivan3]

I'm with boomerge, .50." We've been getting the 36"x50' rolls (Garden Zone brand). Wear gloves and pick up a little bolt cutter if you don't have one (cut it quick). If in a hurry pick up a bag of 14ga. UV resistant cable ties to attach to existing fencing (easy on/easy off).

 

[DuckLady]

Sorry for your loss.

It sounds like a raccoon. THey wil reach through and tear parts off like that.

1/2 or 1/4 inch hardware cloth is your best bet other than locking them in a shed.

That tractor is in no way predator proof (even though it looks handy). Light weight and that big spaced wire fencing is easy as pie to a coyote or racoon or dog or just about anything. Your idea of reinforcing it with corrugated metal is a good one. You should also have it in an "L" shape on the bottom edges going outward and you can anchor it with cinder blocks or large rocks.

 

[Southern28Chick]

That's terrible! What type of wire do you have? You may want to invest in some harware cloth that's small enough that lil coon hands can't reach in.

My chickens have a safe house that sits in their chain link fenced chicken yard and luckily I've had no problems with predators at night getting into the yard. If they did though all they'd have to do is pull apart the chicken wire that covers the windows. I bought some hardware cloth to staple to the windows...then they'll be completely safe at night.

 

[jenichick]

I've heard this same story so many times on the forum....I'm so sorry. I'm glad I found this site before our coop/run was built. I put in the 1/4 inch in concrete and chicken wire on the top, so far so good.

If you can afford it the smaller the better.

 

[chickenwoods]

It was only that flimsy chicken wire,, 2 inch hex i think,,I got it all fixed up now with some sheetmetal around it.

Yes i do need harware cloth,but its so high price...

 

[motherhen]

I didn't use hardware cloth but something that looked like chicken wire but it was 1/2" not 1" and so far I have had no problems. We couldn't afford the hardware cloth and this stuff was almost as cheap as the 1" chicken wire. Don't remember the name but it wasn't called chicken wire. Maybe that might help. My feed store had it available.

 

[boomerge]

Reply to Chickenwoods: I know exactly how you feel, had 3 small Serama's, very tame and lovable. I turned them out for the day and a hawk flew in and de-capitated all three in a matter of minutes, but left the bodies. My heart was broken over something I had come to love very much. They are a small bird with not much for defense. And it get's expensive to replace birds every time you turn around. I've now put up windsocks to keep hawks from flying in. Also had a problem with snakes that kept getting eggs that had been set for hatching. And I'm talking snakes 5 and 6 ft long that have no problem wrapping themselves around a chicken and crushing it. Don't know a whole lot about snakes, but I'm learning. Especially when it comes to defending a small animal like a chicken that can't defend themselves against predators.