Portable screenroom

[la-pro]

I have been letting my 7-8 wk old chicks free-range during the day, but I'm concerned because I've seen a small hawk in the sky. They stick to an area underneath a large Magnolia tree, and luckily, they haven't been killed. I kept my chickies inside most of the day today, but they are so spoiled now, complain, complain, complain. They are driving me nuts. So I went to academy to see what I could find to protect them from the hawks and picked up a portable screen-room tent thing. Think it will be good enough to keep the hawks at bay? Sure is easier than building a tractor or a run with fencing over the top. Nice and inconspicuous too, because I'm technically not allowed chickens where I live (not enough space in the yard).

Anyone else use a portable screen room for a run/tractor?

 

[FireTigeris]

I have done this with success, it will ONLY work on hawks, it will not keep out dogs, cats or humans...

I have a fenced yard that excludes dogs and mostly humans but not cats- I used one of these:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...0gHl16X2Dw&ved=0CIUBEPMCMAA&biw=1440&bih=812#

but a generic one that was $50- I used tiedowns and I had quickcreat (fast dry cement) run all the way around the flap at the bottom on the inside... I let it dry 18 hours and covered with dirt, put the food in the middle and hung the waterer from the center of the tent.

Nothing bad happened, but then again I was fighting cats squirrels and hawks... nothing larger.

I switched to a real coop within three months and they had a secure coop (wood and 1/4 inch hardi cloth) coop at night.

the concrete when dry provided a weighted (but movable) ring that diaslowed the tent to bow and 'leak' chickens.

 

[la-pro]

Thanks for the quick-crete tip. I have a fenced-in yard too. Never seen a dog or a cat get back there. We're pretty urban, though it's a small town. There was a stray cat living in our bushes in the front last year, we were so eager to get rid of him my husband dug up all the bushes. He took shelter across the street and disappeared in about a month. Guess the lady across the street didn't like him either. My main concern is hawks, I hear them all the time and see them regularly flying overhead.

 

[FireTigeris]

Well then give it a try, when i was done with it the quickcreate was only about 1.5 inches thick so I just broke it up. (2 bags at 1.50 each)

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I'm sure you have more predators than you think you have. Raccoons, possums, coyotes, feral cats and dogs are prolific in urban areas just as they are in rural areas. Play it safe and keep them enclosed or be prepared for losses.

 

[FireTigeris]

We have here on dark days- visable:
foxes (grey)
possums
coons
Great Horned Owls


On bright days we have:
Hawks
Feral Dogs
Feral Cats
loose pet dogs
loose pet cats

But I left them in that for as short a time as possible, they grew faster then the workers worked (They were supposed to be completed two and a half months before then, two different teams quit because of how the first team started the work -crooked/sloppy) so I was supposed to get the birds two weeks +/- after the coop was finished- it didn't work out that way.

I did have my four huge chicks (feathered out faster, were 1 lb heaver and were still peeping, also were head and shoulders taller then everyone else) lost all on the same day, assumed heart attack/heat stroke.