So SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS!!!
When you recover, be sure to bury Hardware Cloth, 10 ft. x 36 in. (SKU Number: 3627055, Manufacturers Number: 113610)(just checked on Tractor Supply to help you out). My neighbor, who used to have A LOT of chickens, is helping me IMPROVE my dog fencing which will enclose my new coop. HE told me to bend hardware cloth 1/2-way up the interior part of the fence, then bend and bury the other 1/2 about 3 inches deep and about 12 inches wide. (you cover over what you bury and then plant something, ANYTHING, to keep the dirt in place. (Your birds probably like dandelions.) This is the SAME dog inclosure that could NOT keep a dog we took in several years ago. HE would bury underneath to escape---he was addicting to running the fields, you see. My neighbor tells me that this will discourage all digging predators like fox, raccoon, coyote, dog and cat.
Then, create a top from chicken wire. I needed to cover this 10 x 10 enclosure, so I used 50' long and 2-1/2' wide chicken wire. I measured and cut 4 equal sections, then used fencing wire to weave them together. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. The ONLY improvement over the original (now, temporarily disassembled) will be several 1" wide prv pipes to keep the "roof" from sagging. BUT, I never had a red-tailed hawk or owl bother my birds, the short time that I HAD birds in this.
Here's a happy thought: You get to buy more chickens!
When you recover, be sure to bury Hardware Cloth, 10 ft. x 36 in. (SKU Number: 3627055, Manufacturers Number: 113610)(just checked on Tractor Supply to help you out). My neighbor, who used to have A LOT of chickens, is helping me IMPROVE my dog fencing which will enclose my new coop. HE told me to bend hardware cloth 1/2-way up the interior part of the fence, then bend and bury the other 1/2 about 3 inches deep and about 12 inches wide. (you cover over what you bury and then plant something, ANYTHING, to keep the dirt in place. (Your birds probably like dandelions.) This is the SAME dog inclosure that could NOT keep a dog we took in several years ago. HE would bury underneath to escape---he was addicting to running the fields, you see. My neighbor tells me that this will discourage all digging predators like fox, raccoon, coyote, dog and cat.
Then, create a top from chicken wire. I needed to cover this 10 x 10 enclosure, so I used 50' long and 2-1/2' wide chicken wire. I measured and cut 4 equal sections, then used fencing wire to weave them together. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. The ONLY improvement over the original (now, temporarily disassembled) will be several 1" wide prv pipes to keep the "roof" from sagging. BUT, I never had a red-tailed hawk or owl bother my birds, the short time that I HAD birds in this.
Here's a happy thought: You get to buy more chickens!
