Making sure I have enough predetor protection!!!

[Lydibid]

I'm new to keeping chickens! It has been going great until this past week...I left my chicks outside in a crate in the morning where I checked up on them every hour. When I had gone to check on them, I saw one missing

...all that was left was a bloody feather outside the crate and some blood inside the crate. (sorry for being a lil graphic) We think it was a coon because the holes were too small for the chick to be pulled out without being torn apart. (sorry again) I really want to keep the them outside once they get thier feathers for the winter, and I recently ordered a coop that has a run. Would it be enough if I placed the run on top of chicken wire, where the chicken wire lays flat on the ground, and about 2 feet protruding from the cage? This way I figured if anything tried to dig to get in the run, it wouldn't be able to get in there because the bottom has chicken wire. I tried explaining this to my family but they didn't quite get it...let me know if this is too confusing and i'll try to explain it better lol.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

What sort of coop and run did you order? I had a enclosed run with top and base wire and raccoons still managed to pull it apart and get my flock, ALL of them! I have been chickenless for some time now and will build a Fort Knox Coop this spring and begin again. Good luck but I give you fair warning from personal experience, coons are cunning, clever, strong and very bold and persistant. Think Overkill, is my best advice

 

[Lydibid]

Omgsh really? Thanks for the advice! My coop has an indoor boxed-type coop with a run connected to
It where they can choose to b in or out during the day, and im def locking them up at nite. Now i dont know what to do because the run has an open bottom where it sits on the ground....hmm

 

[Lydibid]

What is a fort knox coop? Also how can i let them free range w/o bein eaten? I was thinking of building a traingular cage that
Could b mobile... But with these
Predators my only solution that i can think of for now
Is to keep my dogs out with them in the yard!

 

[gpwelding1]

a few questions.
what kind of preditors do you have in your area?
what kind of wire is your coop and run made of?if its regular chicken wire thats great for keeping the chickens in.but a racoon or most any preditor will have no problem getting through it.
does your run have a wire top?if not most preditors will go right over the top and get in.
the main thing to remember is if you can think of one way a preditor can get in,they will find two ways in.
there is no such thing as to much preventitave action against preditors.if you can think of it, do it.you wont regret it.
i would like to recomend that you get a live trap,especialy while you have them in a crate waiting for your coop to arive and bait it with dry catfood.
if you are already having problems now,its better to go ahead and try to catch them before you lose any more chickens.
and you will probably need the trap later on anyway.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
A Fort Knox Coop is one that has every possible precaution covered where a preditor is concearned. I am going to use a heavy guage hardware cloth this time in place of the chicken wire which is pretty much ineffective as far as keeping critters at bay

I am going to place an electric strand around the base at about 3" off the ground and another at about a foot off the ground as well as one around the outer edge of the top so that any nasties who think about breaking and entering will get a ugly surprise!
I am thinking about other precautions that I will encorperate in the design also to prevent losses.

 

[Lydibid]

a few questions.
what kind of preditors do you have in your area?
what kind of wire is your coop and run made of?if its regular chicken wire thats great for keeping the chickens in.but a racoon or most any preditor will have no problem getting through it.
does your run have a wire top?if not most preditors will go right over the top and get in.
the main thing to remember is if you can think of one way a preditor can get in,they will find two ways in.
there is no such thing as to much preventitave action against preditors.if you can think of it, do it.you wont regret it.
i would like to recomend that you get a live trap,especialy while you have them in a crate waiting for your coop to arive and bait it with dry catfood.
if you are already having problems now,its better to go ahead and try to catch them before you lose any more chickens.
and you will probably need the trap later on anyway.

1. I know we have racoons, foxes, and hawks... I'm sure there are more but I haven't seen any others
2. I'm actually not sure what type of wire the run is made of, I would think it's more sturdy than chicken wire. I'm getting it soon so I'll have that answered soon!
3. The run has a top to it..it's all enclosed (minus the bottom)

thanks for the help! GREAT advice!

 

[Lydibid]

and the electric strand is a good idea! but the only problem is that the coop will share the backyard with the dogs, and I don't want my pups getting hurt

 

[bobbi-j]

Have you trained your dogs to leave the chickens alone? If you haven't spent a LOT of time with that, they may be more of a problem than your wild predators. Dogs can live with electric fence. It will only take one time for them to learn not to touch it ever again! It won't do permanent damage, just give them a little zap. I think it's the surprise as much as the shock itself that gets them. My run sits on the ground, and I have hardware cloth that goes 2' out from the bottom of the coop (does that make sense?) If your run has regular chicken wire, you will want to reinforce it with something stronger.

 

[Lydibid]

I think i understand what you mean... One of my dogs knows not to mess with the chicks... The other one- not so much. She is a
Jack russell terrier, and she's really old so her hearing is pretty much
Gone, so i'll prob go ahead and get electric wiring... Where is a good place to get it?