Need to add another layer of security

[Naiku]

Yesterday morning I had 11 chickens, yesterday by 5pm I had 3. A raccoon (I assume) somehow found its way in and took 5 x month old chicks, 2 x hens and a rooster. Sucks. Gutted. I am not sure how the raccoon got in, it looked to have tried digging beneath the fence at one point but as far as I could tell had not made (what I would assume) enough room to actually get in. When I built the run I buried the fence about 3" into the ground to help prevent things digging underneath. The dirt looked to have not even gotten below that 3" but there are no other signs of entry at all.

So, clearly my run needs additional security. At the moment it is welded wire fencing with about 2x3" rectangles, 6' tall (actually a little less due to the buried piece) with a diagonal frame of poultry netting that goes up from the edge of the fence to about 8' tall.

I had been planning to add an electric fence set back about 6' from the chicken run fence, the goal to stop bears. We have had one try pulling the fence over. Will an electric fence keep a raccoon out? I had planned to put a wire a couple inches above ground, one at about 18" high and another at about 4-5' high. But, is a raccoon smart enough to ultimately just step over that bottom wire?

I am also looking at wrapping the bottom of the welded wire fence with hardware cloth, the height of that will depend on what size it comes in. I may also move the coop closer to the house, although our yard does not have a lot of flat ground, so it may need to stay where it is. Our dog has an invisible fence that prevents her from getting to the current chicken location, thinking if I move it inside her fence that she would bark at anything entering that zone (shes blind, won't do much, but would at least bark and help to scare predators away).

What else can I do? I thought our run was pretty secure up until yesterday. Previously something had tried digging in, but always given up, and we only lose chickens when letting them free range. Before getting any more birds I want to prevent the massacre I discovered yesterday from happening again.

Thanks.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

3" deep is not even close to enough to deter digging by most animals, the norm is 1 to 2 feet deep at an angle out from the fence proper. This deters all the diggers. Coons don't need but a less than 3 inch hole to get inside (ask me how I know) a coop, 1/2" mesh is the rule for keeping these critters out. Poultry netting is a joke to Coons, they can rip it apart in no time. Electric fence works but you need multiple wires no more than 3 inches apart from about 3" off the ground to actually stop raccoons. Dogs do help but they need to be inside an outer fence or at least around the coop area. Coons come well after dark at our place this means around 10 pm to 4:30 am is coon time.

I use "live" traps to catch coons that come into the chicken area. When they are caught I then dispatch them with a .22 long rifle round to the head while they are inside the trap.
be sure to "camo" the trap with a tarp and have a heavy rock on top of the trap to keep it in place. If you have any scent be gone spray, use it on the trap once you have it set up.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Do you have a top on your run? And, i am sorry for your loss.

 

[aart]

Were the bodies still inside the run?
Thinking they may have been killed using the 'reach thru' technique.

Are you sure they didn't get in on a loose edge of chicken wire roof?

Agrees 3" is nothing.
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC (unless you have small rodents like rats)...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

 

[Naiku]

Do you have a top on your run?

Sort of. So the netting is on top and forms a sort of pitched roof up to about 8' in height. It's attached to the top of the welded wire fencing and then goes up at an angle. If a raccoon had climbed up there, then it would have ripped through it and either gotten tangled up and made a heck of a mess of it, or at least left signs it had climbed. As it is, the netting is all intact.

Were the bodies still inside the run?
Thinking they may have been killed using the 'reach thru' technique.

Of the 8 that were killed, the only bodies in the run were 1 chick and half a hen. The location of the chick and half a body definitely make it look as though whatever did it got all the way into the run. The chick in fact was inside the coop, but fairly intact so it may have been injured and made its way there before succumbing.

Agrees 3" is nothing.
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC (unless you have small rodents like rats)...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

Thanks for those pictures, I was just thinking this morning about laying out something in an L shape with the short side of the L attached to the existing fence. I had been thinking of burying it just below the surface, but laying it out on the ground like that and just letting grass cover it will be even simpler to install.

Got a few ideas to shore up the defenses, re-homing the remaining chickens at least temporarily for now. Sometime between 2:45pm and 7:30pm yesterday whatever it is came back and took the last hen. Just have 1 chick and 1 huge rooster left now.

 

[aart]

Of the 8 that were killed, the only bodies in the run were 1 chick and half a hen.

If all bodies were gone then there's hole somewhere big enough for a chicken to be dragged thru.

I had been thinking of burying it just below the surface, but laying it out on the ground like that and just letting grass cover it will be even simpler to install.

If you can lay it flat enough no need to bury, but sometimes burying it and inch or so can help to mow over it later.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Netting is just another tragedy waiting to happen imo.

 

[Naiku]

If all bodies were gone then there's hole somewhere big enough for a chicken to be dragged thru.

That's what I thought, but I have walked around the run, both inside and out, several times looking for an opening but cannot find anything. I know that chickens can fit through a fairly small gap, so maybe they were just pulled through.

If you can lay it flat enough no need to bury, but sometimes burying it and inch or so can help to mow over it later.

Mowing over would be my main concern, I never cut the grass real short, especially in the area of the run, so might not be an issue though. Here's hoping, I don't much like the idea of digging up that much of the yard manually!!

Netting is just another tragedy waiting to happen imo.

How so? Just curious, I can see it being easy to get through, for me I don't see it as a solid barrier. though, just an additional layer.

 

[aart]

Mowing over would be my main concern, I never cut the grass real short, especially in the area of the run, so might not be an issue though. Here's hoping, I don't much like the idea of digging up that much of the yard manually!!

Mow it real short, like scalping short, before laying down mesh and make sure it's laid flat and/or pinned down...then you shouldn't have to dig and mowing high over it later should be fine.

That's what I thought, but I have walked around the run, both inside and out, several times looking for an opening but cannot find anything. I know that chickens can fit through a fairly small gap, so maybe they were just pulled through.

Well, pred and carcasses would have to fit thru that 2x3 mesh, weasel family is a possibility. Fur and/or feathers should have been present with a tight squeeze. May forever be a mystery.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mow it real short, like scalping short, before laying down mesh and make sure it's laid flat and/or pinned down...then you shouldn't have to dig and mowing high over it later should be fine.

This works really well. Get the apron as flat as possible and the grass will easily grow back in to cover it. No issues mowing.