- Jun 12, 2010
- 5
- 0
- 7
Here's my story. I work night shift, so I can't be at home to close the coop door. Because of this I built a very secure run (or so I thought) with 6' fence, 5' above ground, 1' burried under ground to deter digging predators. The run is in a fairly wooded area and all open spots have a hanging hawk deterrent, so attack from the air has never been a problem. Everyting was fine for over 4 months, so I thought my set-up was great.
Well, I came home one day to find 3 of my 6 buff orpingtons gone. No blood, no remains, nothing but some feathers left behind. After inspecting the area I found some feathers stuck between the fence and the top of a T-post. This lead me to believe something climbed the 5' fence, grabbed my birds, and drug them back over the fence to escape. My orpingtons are not full grown, but they are fairly large. What could carry one while climbing a 5' fence? I'm guessing raccoon or fox.
Today I got a large trap and some materials to set up an electric fence. I know many people leave their coop open without issue, and I would like to do the same. With all the money I've already spent on this I really don't want to have to get an automatic coop door, and besides I've seen fox and raccoon in the day here so if the run isn't secure an auto-door won't help.
Being reduced to 3 birds hurts, especially since I've been looking forward to the eggs and now I have to start over with chicks (if I can even get any at this point in the year). Not to mention having to make another area to seperate them from the 3 grown birds, getting more chick starter, etc. Incredible how much time and money can be lost in one night, and I know many of you have had much bigger losses than I.
I know I have to work fast to get that electric fence up (if that will even help), since whatever ate my chickens will be back for more. Hopefully the trap will catch something in the mean time. If not I'll probably have a total loss and have to start all over. Kinda makes me want to give up but I already have a lot of money invested in this.
Advice and suggestions would be appreciated.
Well, I came home one day to find 3 of my 6 buff orpingtons gone. No blood, no remains, nothing but some feathers left behind. After inspecting the area I found some feathers stuck between the fence and the top of a T-post. This lead me to believe something climbed the 5' fence, grabbed my birds, and drug them back over the fence to escape. My orpingtons are not full grown, but they are fairly large. What could carry one while climbing a 5' fence? I'm guessing raccoon or fox.
Today I got a large trap and some materials to set up an electric fence. I know many people leave their coop open without issue, and I would like to do the same. With all the money I've already spent on this I really don't want to have to get an automatic coop door, and besides I've seen fox and raccoon in the day here so if the run isn't secure an auto-door won't help.
Being reduced to 3 birds hurts, especially since I've been looking forward to the eggs and now I have to start over with chicks (if I can even get any at this point in the year). Not to mention having to make another area to seperate them from the 3 grown birds, getting more chick starter, etc. Incredible how much time and money can be lost in one night, and I know many of you have had much bigger losses than I.
I know I have to work fast to get that electric fence up (if that will even help), since whatever ate my chickens will be back for more. Hopefully the trap will catch something in the mean time. If not I'll probably have a total loss and have to start all over. Kinda makes me want to give up but I already have a lot of money invested in this.
Advice and suggestions would be appreciated.
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