Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[bigmrg74]

New here from Michigan. I live in SE Michigan. We are starting our little flock of 11 chicks. So far they are a lot of fun to watch and interact with. We just built our coop and we are working on adding security to our chain link kennel run. We have to focus on security since we have tons of coyotes, foxes, raccoons, possum, hawks and owls in our area.

For those of you that deal with raccoon. How do you secure the top of your run if you have one? We bought a heavy mesh/tarp kennel shade that you zip tie to the top with 20+ zip ties Would that work well alone or should we add chicken wire under it? What is your experience?

Thanks.

also, it might not hurt to have items in your run that the chickens can duck in to hide under. sometimes they like to catch a nap in a shady spot, or it helps to feel more secure that they know that they can go and duck in there in case they see a hawk go flying by. a few old chairs or even doghouse halves would work nicely for that, and I'm sure others here could suggest other things that you could do for that as well.

 

[Candy442]

Quit wasting Candy (and Brett's) time. They need to find me a new coop.

Relax Raz, I dropped off the furball while they were at the farmers market selling eggs.

LOL...the little furball is not too happy in his new digs. He was pretty used to company and now has two older grumpy cats looking and growing at him. He has a cage to stay safe. Can't let him run around yet

 

[RaZ]

LOL...the little furball is not too happy in his new digs. He was pretty used to company and now has two older grumpy cats looking and growing at him. He has a cage to stay safe. Can't let him run around yet

I think integrating a new cat into a house is far more difficult than introducing new hens to a flock. My first wife was really good at it; she gave every cat a bath so they wet and smelled alike. I think they joined together in plotting her death and were thus united.

 

[jjchickmom]

Thanks Our coop and run are within the same enclosure for safety. We have lots of predators and dogs around here in the country. We plan on adding a moveable fence to give them some supervised free time outside of their run each day around dusk (when big birds have gone asleep and the raccoon and coyotes are not quite awake yet) as well.

We plan on putting the tarp up today and sometime next week attaching wire under it.

Can you leave the coop open during the day to give them that place to hide or take a nap? I have no doubt I could get them to go in at any time. if I had their precious dried mealworms.

We tried the run with our 2 rabbits to test for weakness. There was no where they could get out and they are always looking for that weakness in an enclosure. They hopped along happily and enjoyed a bigger area to explore. Do rabbits and chickens get along? I was thinking we could let them have some free time in the run each day to stretch their legs

 

[1muttsfan]

What kind of fencing does your pen have? If it is just chain link, fence panels or chicken wire, I would not consider it secure. You can put hardware cloth over the fencing to make it more secure, at least the bottom 3 feet. While you are at it bury some around the sides, or add an apron around the perimeter.

 

[jjchickmom]

What kind of fencing does your pen have? If it is just chain link, fence panels or chicken wire, I would not consider it secure. You can put hardware cloth over the fencing to make it more secure, at least the bottom 3 feet. While you are at it bury some around the sides, or add an apron around the perimeter.

Done and done. I have been lurking around this forum doing some research for awhile

We put hardware cloth under it. It is both held down by large stakes (think tent stakes) and 6 inch long heavy duty landscaping staples. Then for added safety we put 1 ft by 1 ft paver stones along the perimeter on the inside and the outside. We then did 3 feet tall hardware cloth around the sides. On the top we secured a thick shaded kennel tarp. We then covered the top of that with chicken wire that covers the roof and then goes down another foot or two on all sides. My next project is to cover the corner gaps above the hardware cloth or chicken wire on the sides and up to the roof with chicken wire.

If I never see another zip tie again life will be good. Ha!

 

[RaZ]

Zip ties, duct tape and WD40 keep the world moving.

 

[1muttsfan]

 

[bigmrg74]

I think integrating a new cat into a house is far more difficult than introducing new hens to a flock. My first wife was really good at it; she gave every cat a bath so they wet and smelled alike. I think they joined together in plotting her death and were thus united.

A solid stratagy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but if the enemy still gives us treats from the can opener, then they can't be all bad.

Zip ties, duct tape and WD40 keep the world moving.

Damn right about that.

 

[bigmrg74]

LOL...the little furball is not too happy in his new digs. He was pretty used to company and now has two older grumpy cats looking and growing at him. He has a cage to stay safe. Can't let him run around yet

Yeah, he was pretty used to curling up in a chair with its siblings and momma. he wasn't all that happy about being by himself in the pet carrier and eventually mom got him out and put him on her lap, that kept him quiet.