Predator proofing. I don't get it. Help me out.

[willeigh]

Hello Everyone! I'm new to BackYard Chickens and new to raising chickens. I have the body of the coop built and will be installing the human door, guillotine pop door and windows this weekend. I want to do everything possible to protect my chickens, but I feel like I'm missing information, so I hope you can help. I will be able to open the pop door from the outside of the coop via a pulley system. The door will be 3/4 inch plywood, and I am considering attaching a weight to ensure it cannot be opened by a predator and I may possibly add a hook and eye closure inside.. The human door will likely have 2 locks. The windows will have hardware cloth on the inside with a frame on top. There will be a screen infront of that and then the glass paned window that will prop open for ventilation. For the run, I have read burying the hardware cloth 12" is effective, but so is the apron method. Which is better against predators and how do you mow if you use the apron? I have read countless post on here and other sites where people have built their coops like fortresses, but some still say they have lost chickens. How? Are they leaving the pop door open? What am I not getting? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pent]

well, some predators can be very wily. Raccoons, for example, can open doors and work simple latches. They can pry hardware cloth loose, given sufficient time. To keep them out, you basically need to child-proof. Only, children don't have sharp claws.

You need to check your defenses regularly. You need to make sure even small gaps are closed over, because things like weasels, mink, and martins are basically made of silly putty. I actually borrowed a friend's ferret to test it, found a few gaps I hadn't noticed.

raccoons and foxes are climbers, they will nose their way under/dig under/through anywhere, given the chance. Raccoons can even reach through some bar spacing, and shred the birds out in bits and pieces. I lost a cage of quail that way.

 

[willeigh]

Thanks for your reply Pent. I have read all about predators including the damage raccoons can do through fences (sorry about your quail). I think I have everything covered, but it's hard knowing you can do everything possible and it still might not be enough.

 

[Pent]

Pretty much the only guarantee is a livestock guardian dog. I dare a fox to go after a coop of birds with a big maremma sleeping outside. My NS duck toller mix keeps an eye on things during the day. Oddly enough despite her breed, she has no interest in chasing the chickens. She's too much a family dog, and too people dependent to sleep outside though. She cries if she's not in the bedroom. Still, no cats or other dogs get near the coop while the hens are out, and they're locked up tight at night. I can go to the store and come back without worrying, and my run isn't even finished yet.

If you have any pics of your run we can perhaps point out any issues; its hard to know what you haven't thought of, when you only mention what you have.

 

[davescarbrough]

Pretty much the only guarantee is a livestock guardian dog.

Pent has a good point here. I keep a beagle with my birds. It's strange, she loves to chase rabbits, but could care less about the chickens. I've been keeping them that way for almost 2 years, and I have only lost 1 bird in that time, and it was a very small chick that had got left behind, and one of our barn cats got it. Several of my neighbors keep birds too, but without a guard dog & some have lost almost their entire flock to preditors. Hope this helps -DS

 

[willeigh]

I haven't started the run yet. I'm trying to get the coop complete, so I can move my 4, 6 1/2 week old chickens out of one of our bathrooms. I take them outside during the day in an enclosed pen by the porch, but only when I am home; they just love being outside. We will all be happier when they are in their coop.

I'll post pictures when I think everything is complete. For now though, did you bury the hardware cloth on your run or did you do the apron method? Or neither?

 

[willeigh]

Davescarbrough, did your neighbors free range their birds? I think this is where I'm getting confused and it's causing me a lot of anxiety over the safety of my birds. If you have an enclosed run and a "tight" coop where you lock your hens up at night, how are so many people losing birds? I understand nothing is 100% foolproof, but it just seems to happen so frequently. I read a post where someone said, everyone will lose a chicken at some point and yet, a few weeks ago in one of the threads, someone who was quite exasperated posted "not everyone loses chickens".

 

[aart]

Here's good thread on aprons https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/760339/predator-proofing-apron-or-buried

I really think the apron works so much better, an animal will dig pretty deep to get what it wants but they dig at the bottom of the wall or fencing and if they hit wire mesh a few inches down they give up and don't know enough to back up to the edge of the apron.

You can lay it right on the ground and use a few stakes to hold it in place and the grass will grow right up thru it and you should be able to mow right over it....or pull the sod and lay it down and replace the sod would be even better...or... read that thread loots of ideas there.

 

[aggiemae]

Davescarbrough, did your neighbors free range their birds? I think this is where I'm getting confused and it's causing me a lot of anxiety over the safety of my birds. If you have an enclosed run and a "tight" coop where you lock your hens up at night, how are so many people losing birds? I understand nothing is 100% foolproof, but it just seems to happen so frequently. I read a post where someone said, everyone will lose a chicken at some point and yet, a few weeks ago in one of the threads, someone who was quite exasperated posted "not everyone loses chickens".

Remember that people post here from so my different places and situations. Evenyone idea of a "tight" coop is different too. My experience is that urban chicken farmers rarely loose a chicken to wild animal predators. Usually the danger comes from ingesting insecticide, weed killer and other chemicals, an attack by your own or your neighbors dogs and, with very young chicks, speeding cars.

We live at the edge of a city but have every kind of predator (including a cougar!). We take night time precautions against possums and raccoons but the thing we really need to guard against are the hawks. So.... we make sure there are plenty of hiding places in the yard, we choose standard size birds and we keep our chicks in portable runs until they are 12-14 weeks old. Lately we have notice lots of hawks raiding wild bird nest in the early Am so we have been keeping the hens in the run until mid morning. The best advice is to pay attention. If your hens are fussing go out and take a look and give your coop and run a safety check at least once or twice a month. Our biggest challenge was keeping our curious chicks in our yard. With a half acre you's think they would stay put but I guess that even in chicken world, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence but finally a higher fence and regular scheduled wing clipping solved that.

 

[willeigh]

Aggiemae, thank you for your reply as it put my mind at ease and confirmed what I already knew, which is, you have to keep an eye on things. We are in a rural setting on an acre and a half. I knew from the start I wasn't going to free range my hens as almost all of our neighbors have dogs. This year, for the first time in probably a decade, I have seen a fox near our home. We have opposum and skunks too. Although I have seen raccoons hit on the main road about 7/10 of a mile from our home, I've never seen them by our home. We have hawks galore, so will definitely have an enclosed run. After reading so many horror stories I was almost regretting getting my hens, but your post kind of put my mind at ease.