My heart is broken

[FisherMOM]

aw... my heart breaks for you.

I hope my babies die from old age. We are using a shed for a coop.. 1/3 of a shed. I want to predator proof it to the max.. hubby is saying it is impossible.. yet he won't even allow me to try. (without a fight) it is a battle every time that we work on it or talk about it.

 

[robinaggie]

Ask him if it's possible to build a coop inside the shed.

 

[FisherMOM]

thats what we are doing Robin... but I want to get all the cracks covered at the floor. He is going to FLIP when he hears that from me.

He already got angry that I put cinder blocks in the ground at the bottom of the shed inside the run so that nothing could dig from under the coop into their pen. Check out MyPage in my signature.. .the outside pen has begun.

 

[robinaggie]

I'm going to use that aerosol expanding foam insulation (comes in a can) to fill the gaps around my tin roof. Maybe that will work around the baseboards of your shed. Also, you might be able to find scrap sheet vinyl to cover the floor, and glue it partway up the walls. I wish you the best with your project. When I win the lottery, I'm going to build the perfect chicken house. Then I'm going to get a billion chickens! (and hire someone to take care of them, so all I have to do is play with them!)

 

[FisherMOM]

lol Robin.

I thought about that stuff... but couldn't something with claws dig it out? Heck, they have all night to try, ya know? Maybe I will get some smaller cinder blocks for in the coop... that will work I bet. We have a vinyl floor to put down and partially up the all.

I wish I could play with my chickens and ducks all day too... they are just so way cool!!!!

Who'd a thunk it???

 

[robinaggie]

I just looked at your page - you have a great project coming along. And how did you get all your "ducks in a row" like that? Texas A&M Poultry Science Dept. is incubating Khaki Campbells for me. If I can't get a place secure enough for them, I've got good homes lined up already.

 

[FisherMOM]

thanks!
that was definitely a by chance photo op.
I love my ducks in a row picture.

 

[go-veggie]

Like people have said, the problem with predators is that they have all night to get inside whatever the enclosure is. None of us are sleeping next to them so the predator, being so opportunistic, just goes for it. When a burglar breaks in a person's house at night, he knows he could get shot by it's occupants-raccoons and coyotes probably don't think of consequences much. I'm going to try Ideal's night guard light that they say works so well keeping predators away. The chicken tractor we built is super safe, and my husband assures me that chicken wire is actually the best choice to keep predators out, but I am still nervous about having chickens outside. Our turtles were outside for 2 YEARS without incident, and out of nowhere, they became some raccoon's midnight snack. We were so upset, that we put rat bait chunks out for the raccoon the next night. Sure enough, the big raccoon came back, looked around in the pond and sat and ate the bait chunks. It never came back. I know most people would have shot it, but we don't have a gun and our kids are 2 and 4 so we wouldn't have wanted to wake them up or scare them anyway. Plus, we dealt with enough blood the night before. I think our chcikens are probably 90% safe, but again, if some scary, strong, determined predator has the claws, the teeth, the drive and the TIME, aside from putting them in our house or shop at night, we can't fully be sure that nothing would happen to them. Believe me, we are considering figuring out a way to house them in the back room of the shop at night and then letting them out into the tractor during the day. NIGHT GUARD will be my next purchase though in the quest to keep our outdoor pets safe, so if anyone has any comments about that product, let me know. Look over your enclosures everyday and don't ever let your guard down.

 

[dixygirl]

I have my coop inside my pen and there is cement around the pen and around the coop. So if a predator gets in the pen at night, he still has to get thru the cement floor of the coop too.

Also predator repellant sprayed around the whole thing. The night guard sounds great for $20! With as much work as i have put into this, if i loss a baby i would cry for weeks.

Time will tell if it is good enough. But i am not going to stop! I am going to keep looking for ways to protect my animals because i think of mine as my babies. I would def not think "oh well whatever" If i had that harsh attitude i think it would be better for me not to own pets and do something different with my time.

 

[kinnip]

Quote:
I'm so sorry. I hate to ask for anything at a time like this, but do you have a photo of your coop. It sounds a lot like the one we're building. If something can get in via the roofline, I'd like to fix it before it becomes a problem. Again, I'm so sorry. Thanks for having the gumption to help others by sharing your misfortune.