New here, need your expert advise :o)

[red mommy]

Good Day to all,
I apologize in advance if this is a bit long...
My husband and I were just recently "gifted" 3 Rhode Island Red hens (appx 1 yr old) from a friend of mine. We live in a rural area of Florida where there are deer, bears, foxes, raccoons, hawks, panther's bob cats, etc. I purchased a coop from Rural King (the coop inside the cage) (never again) and I knew that wouldn't be enough so my husband constructed a large cage/run to go around it. I wanted the enclosure to be as predator proof as it could possibly be. My husband covered the sides and the top with hardware cloth and (not pictured here) placed fencing on top of that. He extended the hardware cloth appx 2-3 inches out on all sides to deter digging animals, he staked it and will be staking down rebar spikes on all sides for added protection. He bought electric fencing but says he does not want to accidentally shock the chickens. Besides being new members of our little family they are my friends beloved pets and we want to protect them as best we can. In the future we will be replacing the coop with a DIY.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. In addition; I have another inquiry. The coop has a small run area inside it, it has a large door and a small door. I have been closing the hen door nightly and opening it up daily. The hens put themselves to bed (the easy part) but they appear early risers (not sure when) and are impatiently waiting to get out when I stumble out about 6-630am. My husband wants to install one of those automatic door openers but until we get one, given the fortification (I hope) of the pen in its entirety, would it be ok to leave just the hen door open so they can at least be in the confined area of the coop?

 

[jthornton]

Looking at your outer run I'd say leave the pop door open so they can get to the inner run at dawn.

Put your location in your profile so it's always there.

JT

 

[red mommy]

Thank you :O)

 

[cholland]

Nice work. Might need to nail or screw some boards over the wire so nothing can pull the staples out. I would run an electric wire or two around the out side. Chickens wont be able to touch it from the inside and it will deter just about anything from trying to get in.
Chickens can touch the electric fence, they will learn to avoid it.

 

[aart]

He extended the hardware cloth appx 2-3 inches out on all sides to deter digging animals,

2-3 inches?
That's not enough....tho if you go with electric on outside of run it won't matter.
With hot wire on outside of run it won't hurt the chickens.
Good examples of apron installation, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC...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



Here's the BYC guru on electric fencing;
https://www.backyardchickens.com/se...post&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[user][0]=402320

 

[red mommy]

2-3 inches?
That's not enough....tho if you go with electric on outside of run it won't matter.
With hot wire on outside of run it won't hurt the chickens.
Good examples of apron installation, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC...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



Here's the BYC guru on electric fencing;
https://www.backyardchickens.com/se...post&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[user][0]=402320

I meant to say feet, not inches lol, didn't have enough coffee in me when I wrote this, thank you for the advise

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes I'd leave the door to the "inner run" open at night, so that expands the space the hens have access to. The run looks pretty good, so good job on that.

 

[aart]

I meant to say feet, not inches lol, didn't have enough coffee in me when I wrote this, thank you for the advise

I figured it was feet from pics....but then ya never know, so I asked!

 

[red mommy]

Nice work. Might need to nail or screw some boards over the wire so nothing can pull the staples out. I would run an electric wire or two around the out side. Chickens wont be able to touch it from the inside and it will deter just about anything from trying to get in.
Chickens can touch the electric fence, they will learn to avoid it.

There has been more work done to it since this picture was taken and I'll post the end results. In addition, to staples, he screwed the crap out of the wire, so they would have to contend with staples and screws :O) I will let him know about the fence

 

[red mommy]

Yes I'd leave the door to the "inner run" open at night, so that expands the space the hens have access to. The run looks pretty good, so good job on that.

thank you