Firefoot
Songster
I wish I could free range, but we have too many hawks ... and they're brazen. I was outside with my youngsters and ran inside to grab the ringing portable phone. I came straight back out, phone in hand (what, maybe 90 seconds?) and that quick, I lost a young pullet to a redtail. It must have been watching us from the Mulberry tree, the nasty bugger!
So mine all live in a converted wooden playhouse. The cabin is the coop and the sandbox is fenced in as a run. It's rather unique, but it works!
Wow, that's awful! We have some hawks around here but mostly the small Cooper's hawks. Last fall I had one spending the day in our trees by the chicken house but luckily nothing happened. Our biggest issue is probably fox -- there is a den in the neighbors field and last summer they counted 13! They shot a lot of them, though, and I have seen fewer this summer. Though we're set back a bit, we are right on a very busy road and I think that helps keep wildlife traffic down. A raccoon got hit in front of our driveway so now I know those are around, too ...
Your coop sounds really cute! And at least the chickens are safe. I'd rather have them locked up in a big run for years than free range for 5 minutes and get taken