Newbie with her basement chicks

[dogwoodglen]

Hello,

I am a newbie to backyard chicks. We recently purchased a home in Georgia that had an existing "fixer upper" chicken coop on the property. I picked up five chicks from our local feed store and have been keeping them in our finished basement in a large dog kennel. I take them outside for supervised free range time; however, except for the outside visits they have been kept in the safety of my basement. Their feathers are coming in and the weather has become warmer. My husband is insisting that they move from the basement to the chicken coop because we have family visiting us soon. Also, the basement is starting to smell like chickens. I had planned to move them to the coop soon after bringing them home; however, I am petrified to put them outside because of all the predators. We live on 11 acres surrounded by a creek, woods, and animals. Admittedly, I have also allowed myself to become very attached to my little flock that will come outside and return to their kennel with my call. I need some suggestions for things that I can do to reinforce and fix the coop so they can stay in there without me dragging my sleeping bag outside and sleeping in there with them.

Thanks!

 

[Lorien]

Welcome!
I am pretty new here myself, but I can give you my two cents. We have had a ton of predator problems even with my backyard flock in the city. We finally gave up trying to turn the coop into Fort Knox and got a livestock guardian dog. Best investment ever. No losses, none. You might consider checking craigslist for a Great Pyranees. Best of luck!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, dogwoodglen, and

! Pleased you joined us! It does look that coop needs a little work. I'd take a handful of screws and a drill driver and shore up up the lumber part of it. That big gap in the roof in the back of the nesting boxes needs to be addressed and make sure the door can be latched. Perhaps the most important thing on is the wire. I can't tell if it's chicken wire but if it is it needs to be replaced with hardware cloth. It is a little pricey but will keep your birds safer than chicken wire (which is pretty much good only for keeping chickens in...not predators out). Overall I think you can make in chicken ready in short order! Good luck to you!

 

[dogwoodglen]

Thank you for the reply Lorien,

I love the idea of a livestock guardian dog. However, we already have three dogs. If I brought another dog home, I would definitely be sleeping in the chicken coop with the chicks. I have thought about trying to train one of our dogs to guard the chicks. One is a Dutch shepherd mix and another is a heeler mix. I'm a little nervous though, because I could swear I saw one of them licking their lips when eyeballing the chicks. If I could train one of them, though, it would definitely be a great solution.

 

[dogwoodglen]

Thank you for your reply Redsoxs,

I have added "hardware cloth" to my hardware store shopping list. I will place it over all the gaps and around the sides and top of the pen itself. I'm going to buy a ton of it!! I am delighted to have found this site. The postings and blogs are very helpful. Thanks again!

 

[Lorien]

LOL! I hear you about the dog issue. If you can get one to be dedicated to chicken guarding it may work. Our great pyr guards the birds from our bird eating dog.

 

[Bush Chickens]

Definitely don't try to get the heeler mix to guard them,nearly all heelers are very well known for killing chickens

 

[drumstick diva]

You probably aren't imagining that your dogs are licking their chops thinking of CHICKEN. Seems like everyone has a dog "incident" with chickens - either their own dogs attacking them or the neighbor dogs that are footloose and fancy free.

So protecting chickens also means making it impossible for your dogs and chickens to meet. Hardware cloth is great if properly hung and securely attached to wood(??)framing. But you also need a wire skirt under the perimeter of the yard to discourage digging predators. Tall enough to keep climbing preds out & high flying chickens in. Plus a secure top to keep out flying predators.

Everything loves to eat chicken. The best fort knox coop is only safe if people remember to latch locks, etc. I think you should build the most secure coop & run that is possible and then don't stress about it. Accidents do sometimes happen even with the best efforts to prevent them. This you have to accept as a part of living.

 

[drumstick diva]

PS you could also put a baby monitor in the coop so you could hear any disturbance from your house. That may also give you peace of mind.

 

[dogwoodglen]

Thank you Drumstick Diva and Bush Chickens,

I'm not sure how to get the hardware cloth to attach to the gaps in the metal sides of the coop, so I may have to implement a Plan B. I'm going to try to get a wire skirt to go around the coop as well.

A baby monitor is definitely on my list. Maybe my heeler won't be able to guard the chicks as Bush Chickens explains. But, I bet she will alert us to any disturbance on the baby monitor during the night. Also, a sign to the people around my house that says, "don't forget to latch" will be hanging on the door to the pen. Thank you for the suggestions.