Please advise... :( Chicken killed tonight

[Alhelm]

Not addressed to me, but I use the black netting that is about as thick as string. In the store, they label it bird netting and sometimes deer netting. Another thing, if you do get netting for your run, there are some nets that are diamond shaped and others that are square or rectangular shaped. Last year I bought some netting that was diamond shaped (but not stated on the label) and that was impossible for me to stretch out on my fencing. I ended up returning that and got a different brand netting and that was actually square like I thought I was buying.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Alhelm]

I'm sorry for your dear loss. It's great to know someone's taking great care of their flufs!

Thank you so much

 

[Alhelm]

I use cheap netting for fruit trees. Part of my run is metal roof but mostly net. I have had a hawk land on the metal roofing and coop roof. He sits and watches my ladies scramble into their coop. He don't mess with the netting. Raccoons, opossums and birds don't mess with my netting. My coop is open day and night in the run area. If I could get a rooster I would have one.

That's amazing that the predators don't try to get in.

 

[Alhelm]

I can't afford to cover my chicken run with a hard top. So I use the bird netting attached to my 2X4 fencing with zip ties. The netting is so light that I don't need much of anything to keep it from sagging. I just run a rope every 10 feet and that is enough support for the bird netting. Except for the winter when wet snow will freeze on the netting and it all comes crashing down. But my chickens don't go outside in the snow filled run during the winter. They stay in their coop.

I have never had any song birds getting stuck in my netting. They will fly in and out of the 2X4 fencing without a problem,

Also, my 2X4 fencing is 6 feet tall, so I don't have to bend over when I go into the chicken run. If you have a shorter fence, or just need more headroom, you could put up a pole in the middle of the netting and have it taper down to the outside fencing. I might try that next year to see if it helps with the freezing rain and snow that crashes my netting in the winter.

The rope support might work for my area... and I get snow and ice too. Thanks for the details.

 

[cmom]

Whatever it is will be back. I have several cameras up around on my property and hardly a night goes by, when the predators roam here, that I don't get a predator on at least one of the cameras. I also have some cameras on posts so I can move them around. I also have electric wires around my coops and pens and the predators are aware of it and stay clear. I have a quite powerful fence charger (50 mile). It will loosen teeth. I also have good heavy duty netting covering my pens and concrete under the gates all due to losses from predators in the past. Everything likes chicken. A rooster can also be had by a predator. Lessons learned the hard way. Good luck...

 

[Alhelm]

Wow every night . I guess I need to keep my guard up for sure. Yesterday I let the girls out when I came home and stood with them, every chicken in sight. I kept my eyes on the sky and somewhat distant tree tops. As I was answering a phone call, I saw fast motion and caught sight of a largish bird with a long straight tail flying low past me and the girls, no more than 20 feet away!!! I practically dropped the phone. I looked it up later and I think it was cooper's hawk but I didn't get a look at it's beak. I read that they can fly in low, land, and walk up to chickens to attack. That would explain a lot, thinking back to that crowded spot below brush where I found the killed chicken. So you all have been spot on... Hawk and will be back. I'm relieved actually that it was not likely to be a weasel. So I will focus on preventing hawks for the time being... Thank you so much

 

[McChooky]

I framed up a 8 x 16 run for hardware cloth but used netting until I could afford to buy hardware cloth .It does a very good of protecting chickens from aerial predators but that's all it protects them from. I only used it about 2 months.I removed the netting a section at a time until I finally got all my hardware cloth attached.Good netting is heavier and durable.You need to support it with something( wire or rope either one works)Tie ties are great to secure it with.I'm making chicken tunnels in the spring so they have more area to forage in.Good luck!

 

[Alhelm]

Im going to have to do something a little bit by bit too. I'm way too busy to watch them the entire time they forage. It's fun but unfortunately I have to at least be working nearby. Thanks for the idea of tunnels