Pecanny in the Coop

[Pecanny]

Hello everyone! Pecanny here, from Greenbrier, Arkansas. Like many here as it appears, the wife and I were lead to the site by a menace coon. We just started raising chickens and have lost 4 half grown chicks on two occasions from a menace coon tearing up our coops.

Indeed, even with our back yard dog barking away in his face, the coon chewed through the chicken wire and killed our cute little babies. We have already taken advantage of the info in threads here regarding coon proofing, Great forum!!

The wife and I look forward to crowing away with you folks here!

 

[liz9910]

Welcome to BYC! I'm sorry for your losses. I had a bad experience with a raccoon too. Did you switch the chicken wire for 1/4 inch hardware cloth?

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

So sorry about the coon attacks and your losses. Those coons are just brutal. I hope you were able to find help to predator proof your coop and run.

Make yourself at home here on BYC and welcome to our flock!

 

[Pecanny]

Welcome to BYC! I'm sorry for your losses. I had a bad experience with a raccoon too. Did you switch the chicken wire for 1/4 inch hardware cloth?

Thank you Liz!!

I think I may have done even better than that.

I had two coops. The first I built was a 6'x4' on wheels with a 4"x4" post base. It is the one which the coon mangled the chicken wire and got the little ones.. Shortly after I built that one, I went out back on our property and cut cedar posts and concreted them in the ground for a 8'x6' coop, 7' tall at the front slanted to 6' in the back. We have a farm with old barns built totally out of cypress wood, with classic old tin roofs. I dismantled part of one of the barns to build the stationary coop. I even used the old stall doors. It is really cool. It looks like it has been there a hundred years, complete with the old tin roof and all. Around the base of the pen I have the roofing tin on the ground, capped with a big load of about 30 cinder blocks.

Anyways, this morning, I fortified my big coop, first with 2"x4" yard fencing. Then, after that, I had a roll of hog wire with 4"x4" links. I doubled it, crossing the second layer in the middle of the first layer to make 2"x2" holes, and then I wired every link together to make a tight fit. The hog wire takes a hack saw to cut, so I feel fairly secure. I don't think a tornado could take the thing apart. I'd just about put it up against a German built Normandy bunker. I told AdriAnn that if a dang coon can get in there, I'll by gosh buy the varmit a chicken dinner every night, because he's a bigger man than me if he can.. I'll post up a pic or two here shortly of the coop.

We never knew what we were missing by not having chickerns. Our 4 1/2 year old little girl, Clementine, and 12 year old brother, Staven, already are planning to grow chickens for the county fair. Clementine absolutely loves them. They love her too, as she totes them around the yard like a pet kitty cat.

Thanks again for the welcome, Liz. I love your forum!!

Michael

 

[Pecanny]

Welcome to BYC!

So sorry about the coon attacks and your losses. Those coons are just brutal. I hope you were able to find help to predator proof your coop and run.

Make yourself at home here on BYC and welcome to our flock!

Thanks TwoCrows! AdriAnn and I appreciate the welcome!!

Oh, and our user name, Pecanny, comes from the name of our Rhode Island Red rooster, named likewise, because his favorite treat is pecans.

 

[Pecanny]

I replied to TwoCrows welcome post, but got a message I wasn't allowed to post pics as of yet, by "quoting" his post, I guess his "WELCOME" pic that was copied was the dealio.

 

[liz9910]

Quote:
Wow!! That sounds like a really awesome coop. I would definitely love to see pictures of that! I also have a 4 1/2 year old daughter that helps me with the chickens. She won't let me feed, water, or collect the eggs because that is her job.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like quite the coop!

 

[Pecanny]

Hello

and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like quite the coop!

I sort of worked my tail feathers off to build it on my days off. I work 4, 12 1/2 days weekly, plus a one hour one way commute, as a registered nurse at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. I have about 50 or 60 hours of labor in the coop.

The good part, I have only a few dollars cash in the coop, literally. We bought the 150 ft. roll of chicken wire, which was enough for both coops (and to wrap our garden), ( and which turned out to be somewhat useless thanks to the coon), at a close-out sale for $15. I used a box 2 boxes of nails and 1 box of C-nails made for attaching barbed wire to wood posts, all for .25 cents a box, bought at a yard sale (my other hobby). The hinges were already attached to the stall doors when I removed them. The hog wire was given to me for helping an elderly neighbor lady clean up her yard, as was the fencing. All the cypress wood and roofing tin didn't cost me a dime, just had to dismantle it, and I have a ton of it to build more. And oh yeah, I probably spent about $1 on chainsaw gas to cut my cedar posts!

Thank you for the welcome, Kelsie.

 

[Pecanny]

Wow!! That sounds like a really awesome coop. I would definitely love to see pictures of that! I also have a 4 1/2 year old daughter that helps me with the chickens. She won't let me feed, water, or collect the eggs because that is her job.

What is it about 4 y/o little girls and chickens?

Seems they go together like peanut butter and jelly.