Need Help keeping my coop secure... suggestions?

[Owenp_2]

Hey, so a few days ago I had a fox come in and kill all 19 of my chickens. Yes... all 19. I have cried A LOT over the past few days but I love chickens so I'm going to continue to raise chickens and this time I'll make sure the coop is a safer place. With that said does anyone have any ideas as to how you keep your coop secure?

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

I just had a new coop built this week. I had them build it on top of a concrete slab to keep predators from burrowing under. The run will still be on dirt so they can probably tunnel under, but with the door closed at night, I'm hoping this will help.

 

[DobieLover]

Hey, so a few days ago I had a fox come in and kill all 19 of my chickens. Yes... all 19. I have cried A LOT over the past few days but I love chickens so I'm going to continue to raise chickens and this time I'll make sure the coop is a safer place. With that said does anyone have any ideas as to how you keep your coop secure?

Please post several pictures of your current set up.
Did the fox break into the coop or the run?

 

[Tre3hugger]

Good for you for wanting to move forward and try to prevent this from happening again. Can you provide some pics of your coop, especially where the predator entered, so we can make more helpful suggestions?

 

[dennisma1]

Hey, so a few days ago I had a fox come in and kill all 19 of my chickens. Yes... all 19. I have cried A LOT over the past few days but I love chickens so I'm going to continue to raise chickens and this time I'll make sure the coop is a safer place. With that said does anyone have any ideas as to how you keep your coop secure?

Oh no how devastating. This year I put up a 6 foot chain link fence with bird netting on top. I'm in rural florida. I have hardware mesh buried in the ground . But it was expensive. The ladies free range by day, I have to be vigilant at dusk, but their pen is secure now at night. I was worried about bears.

 

[blackdog043]

Pictures of your coop, run and door latches, will help us give you the best information!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

No shortage of ideas. and posters familiar with your neck of the woods (TY for listing a location) and the local predators. Post your pictures of the current set up and the damage done. We'd be happy to help out.

Also, how's the budget? Some predator solutions are more pricey than others, some scale up very well and become cheaper as size increases. Others don't.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

It would be a lot easier to help if we had pictures of the inside and outside of the current coop and specifically where the fox got in.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes, pictures please.

The general answer is:

Half-inch hardware cloth over every possible opening,
Secure door and nestbox latches that take two steps to open,
A means of securing the pop door,
Anti-dig wire -- either dug into the ground at least a foot or laid on the surface outside the coop/run as an apron.

Electric wire is very helpful in areas with high predator loads.

 

[Owenp_2]

I just had a new coop built this week. I had them build it on top of a concrete slab to keep predators from burrowing under. The run will still be on dirt so they can probably tunnel under, but with the door closed at night, I'm hoping this will help.

Will you cover the concrete with some sort of bedding?