Need help improving our predator defenses!

[Navigator73]

We are 4 months into our effort to raise chickens. So far it’s been working pretty well, until today. We have a nice sized coop that sits at the far end of a fenced in area that is about 4000 sq ft in total (the area, not the coop). We put up a wooden privacy fence in December for them to have plenty of space, but we’ve haven’t been able to set up adequate protection for them, and we probably made a huge mistake putting them out there before we had more protection in place. They had gotten so big, we had no more room to keep them inside. We clearly don’t have adequate protection from predators because, unfortunately a hawk was able kill one of our chickens today. So we clearly need to do more. Although my wife grew up with chickens, it was in childhood in a very different climate with different predators. And she’s a bit stumped. I’ve never raised chickens, so I’m totally in the dark. We spent a lot of money on this privacy fence to give them a lot of room, but we’re realizing we haven’t done enough to protect them, and we need ideas on the best way to go, and a way that works with our limited budget. What I really want to do is have someone who has knowledge of this kind of thing come and look at our current setup (or maybe offer ideas on seeing pictures of it), but we really need someone knowledgeable to tell us the best way to keep our chickens safer without breaking the bank. And we kinda need to come up with something fairly soon. We’re afraid to let them out of their coop right now until we have something definitive in place. We’ve already seen the hawk return and land on our fence presumably to look for another target. It already knows it’s a place it can find more, so we need to put in place something to keep it, and anyone else who wants to take a shot at our chickens, out!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Only way to fully exclude aerial predators is to securely cover the run with a roof or strong netting. 4k sq ft is a lot to cover, so I can understand that being a problem.

A less extreme measure would be to run some wire or rope in a random pattern over the area with foiled ribbons or CDs attached, to add visual clutter to help confuse birds of prey.

 

[cavemanrich]

You need to make a smaller run area, and cover with overhead netting. I know hawks do know where meals are present. Besides being Federally protected, they are necessary in nature. Just not eating my chickens.
Post some pictures of your coop, and adjacent fence so we can offer easier solutions.

This would provide protection against Hawks,,, at most reasonable budget option.
It would not protect against raccoons, but those are nocturnal predators,,, and your chickens should be locked in coop by evening.
It does get expensive to safeguard a run,,,, since soo many items have higher prices due to our economy/inflation.
Consider getting items from peeps on Craigs' or OfferUp. Sometimes you can find extras that go for less cash.

WISHNG YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Chixadee]

We recently saved one of our hens from a hawk that flew into the coop. The entire flock was under our cedar tree except the one who probably was there laying an egg. Our coop is between two large trees the cedar and a pecan. Of course with no foliage the pecan is where it gained access. Our fenced area is quite large but we have multiple hiding areas. The trees and the kids old trampoline. Hiding areas are quick solution. While our Roo is very vocal and good protector, it was our older puppies that sounded the alarm. They stayed by the fence looking at the coop and barking. Our next prevention that was quick is we strung old blank CDs in a V formation, cedar tree to coop and coop to pecan. Not sure if that actually works, but it was one quick thing to try. The one side of our coop is next to an open fallow field. I've noticed they really only go to that side if we are there. If we do the netting that would be the spot. I've planted multiple trees/bushes along the fence line to provide cover, but it will be awhile. Now that I think about it, I need more evergreens. I live in the country and lots of challenges to co-exist with nature. Wishing you the best of success and hope this is helpful.

 

[Navigator73]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I am leaning toward creating a smaller area with wire fencing and netting. My wife wants to use the entire space inside the privacy fence. I am not sure we can secure that much space.

I can string wire everywhere, tie up pie pans for noise and something shinny, maybe a wind chime, and setup owl decoys, but unless I weave a gigantic spiderweb over the yard, but that’s going to look awful, and my gut tells me it’ll still not be enough. If we make the area smaller, we can make it way more secure, but I think the issue my wife has is that we installed the fence for the chickens. If we just create a smaller run, maybe it defeats the purpose of an $8K privacy fence. We could’ve just built a small run and saved the money. But it is clear just this privacy fence is not enough. Also cost is a big factor for what comes next, especially since we’ve already sunk a buttload into this thing.

So we really need to make our next step work with our budget. But I am realizing there were factors we didn’t account for when we started this venture. I’m a complete novice, and my wife’s experience raising chickens was on another continent with a different climate and very different predators. But I know I can do anything I put my mind to, and I’m going to make this work!

I’m just not willing to give up. I’m still excited to do this, but we’re faced with coming up with something fast. The chickens have been in the coop for 5 days straight, so they gotta be getting close to going stir crazy. But it has been very cold this whole week, so they are much warmer in the coop.

I’ve attached a pic to hopefully illustrate the size of the space which is over 4000sqft. Not sure this pic does the size justice, but it’s big. Also I am thinking about moving the coop a few feet left and a few feet back toward the back fence so there’s more flat land around the coop to erect that smaller run. Only problem is apparently this coop weighs more than a baby grand piano! The people I hired to helped me pick it up from whom we bought it from was very surprised how heavy it was, and struggled a lot getting it on the truck. He said loading a piano is easier!

I’m determined to make this work, but I will be so appreciative for more feedback as to the best way to protect our girls in a way that doesnt break the bank. I don’t think I can afford more than $200 right now on a solution that is effective until I can do something that’s bombproof. We can add more and shore things up over time, but we need something quick that will repel aerial predators so the chickens can go outside safely.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How big is the flock at this time? Maybe for now just fence off a corner of that space closest to the coop, utilizing U or T-posts and chicken wire to make a smaller secure area, then run tension wire around the top of the posts to support 2" netting over the top to ward off aerial attacks. You will need a couple of taller posts in the middle to provide center support. You can expand it over time as budget allows.

Just to show you what I mean, I have green U-posts around the run perimeter, wire strung around the top at about 6', and the netting basically drapes over all that, with the very tall coop providing central support.

My fence is taller on the other side of the run so two crossbeams are holding up the center portion of the netting.

The one major drawback is netting/netting supports will collapse under enough wet/sticky snowfall, so you'll need to monitor the weather and be ready to go beat excess snow off with a broom.

 

[Stephine]

If you want to secure the big area, you‘ll need a farm dog, best working in tandem with a rooster as the lookout. Our dog got trained to the rooster alerts and is a very effective protection against hawks now (we have a lot of resident hawks, year round). But that’s not cheap or immediate. Your best option is building a smaller secure run…

 

[Navigator73]

How big is the flock at this time? Maybe for now just fence off a corner of that space closest to the coop, utilizing U or T-posts and chicken wire to make a smaller secure area, then run tension wire around the top of the posts to support 2" netting over the top to ward off aerial attacks. You will need a couple of taller posts in the middle to provide center support. You can expand it over time as budget allows.

Just to show you what I mean, I have green U-posts around the run perimeter, wire strung around the top at about 6', and the netting basically drapes over all that, with the very tall coop providing central support.View attachment 3729639

My fence is taller on the other side of the run so two crossbeams are holding up the center portion of the netting.
View attachment 3729643

The one major drawback is netting/netting supports will collapse under enough wet/sticky snowfall, so you'll need to monitor the weather and be ready to go beat excess snow off with a broom.

We are down to 9 chickens. We lost one to a red shouldered hawk a week ago Sunday. Very heartbreaking. We were all getting particularly attached to her. She had a strong personality. I don’t know if hens are known for doing this, but with how fearless she seemed to be, I just wonder if she might have actually tried to take that hawk on to fend it away from her and her sisters. If she did, she saved all of her sisters. They all found cover in time.

We’re doing this for eggs, and just the joy of caring for fascinating animals. For my wife it’s a bit of childhood nostalgia. We expect to grow an attachment to them, and their safety is accordingly important to us.

Thank you so much for your suggestion. I was thinking of something similar myself. What would make it easier is if I could move that behemoth coop about 4’ back toward the back fence, so I can center it on a nice big flat spot to set up some wire fencing and netting.

Wish me luck!

 

[Debbie292d]

If that were mine, I would get some 20# test fishing line and run it zigzag back and forth from one side of the fence to the other, using trees where there are any. I don't know how tall your fence is but if was shorter than me, I'd put in or attach a stake every few feet where there wasn't a tree so that it'll be over my head, and make sure there is no area more than 4-5' without line. Hawks have excellent vision and will see that from the sky and be confused if they should try it or not and just give up. If one is desperate enough to give it a try, the 4-5' opening isn't big enough for it to be successful without hitting a line and it'll abort mission.

 

[Stephine]

unless you have the smaller hawks, sharp shinned or Coopers… they hunt in the trees and can maneuver through lines with ease.