Predator Worries while Traveling

[dgriffi3]

I need to know if I'm crazy, or if this is a real possibility. Are predators more likely to attack when nobody's home? (How could they even tell at night?)

A few years ago, we lost some hens to predators. Probably a raccoon, but could be possum or any number of Florida predators. We were traveling when they attacked, and our neighbor who was coming by to care for them found them. Flash forward a couple of years, and we inherited a large run and 5 hens from a different neighbor. We moved the run from his yard to ours, about 30 feet. He had no predator problem for years. We had to go out of town shortly after rehoming them (NOT what we wanted, but it was the only way to get these hens a home. Long story.) Sure enough, they were fine the week we were there, but then our kindhearted chicken sitter AGAIN came to find the girls had been attacked and killed. He reinforced the run in places, did what he could, but whatever it was got them all that week.

Now, I have 9 pullets. I've spent the week reinforcing this run and I buried hardware cloth around the perimeter and nailed it to the base of the run. I'm about ready to move the girls in tomorrow. The problem is, in 2 weeks we have to go on the road again for about a week. I'm terrified that something is going to get them while we are gone, and I'm tempted to actually hire a pet sitter to sleep in our house, but that feels kind of ridiculous! They have a huge run, fully attached to the coop. All they really need is to be checked in on from time to time to make sure they haven't spilled the water or run out of food.

My options are:
Pay more than i'd like to have someone stay in my house
Move the girls back into the extra-large dog crate in the garage for the week that we're gone
Or trust that the run will hold, even with an empty house.

Am I overthinking this? Is an empty house really going to make a difference?

Ok, last question: Has anyone had any luck with those 'predator eyes' lights?

I'm pretty desperate not to lose these hens, but I also can't blow off my mom's 70th birthday so we can't stay home. My kids will be a wreck if these hens die.

Thanks, I"m sorry this is so long.

 

[azygous]

For a fraction of the cost of hiring a chicken sitter to squat in your house, which may not make any difference to marauding predators, you can buy a plug-in fence charger, some small gauge fence hot wire, and some insulators, don't forget a grounding copper rod, and bait it with peanut butter.

There probably isn't a run that can be 100% secured against a determined predator, but 10,000 volts to the tongue as the animal samples the peanut butter, will convey a message that will deter that predator from ever returning. My system works on the worst predators, bears and bobcats, but my chickens may get zapped from time to time but not get hurt. No one gets hurt, including you, just shocked.

Ask at your feed store for supplies to rig your hot wire system and explain to you how it works. In just a few hours you will have peace of mind knowing your chickens are safe whether you are home or not.

 

[dgriffi3]

Thank you! This is a really great idea. How high does the fencing have to go, do you think? I don't have a fence around the run--it is wooden. Do I just run the wire around the perimeter? If you're busy, I can probably google and figure this out as well. Thank you, I do think this will give us more peace of mind. (I just have to remember to make sure it's always off when the kids are nearby!)

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[DobieLover]

Thank you! This is a really great idea. How high does the fencing have to go, do you think? I don't have a fence around the run--it is wooden. Do I just run the wire around the perimeter? If you're busy, I can probably google and figure this out as well. Thank you, I do think this will give us more peace of mind. (I just have to remember to make sure it's always off when the kids are nearby!)

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Can you post a picture of your setup? That will help.
I have my entire setup enclosed in an electro-netted pen charged with 10,000 volts and will eventually run hot wires around the coop and run that I've just recently completed.
I had hot wires around my old coop and run and never had anything get in.
I run the wires at 12" and 24" off the ground. That is low enough that a raccoon or opossum can reach the baited wire for a taste and still have at least one foot on the ground to connect the circuit and give them a jolt they'll never forget. I am also deterring bear, coyote, fox, fisher cats and occasionally the neighbors dogs.

 

[azygous]

One wire at around 24inches around the coop and run will do. You can buy insulators that screw into wood to hold the wire away from the fencing. The principle to remember is that if the hot wire touches anything that is in contact with the ground, it will not work, as all the voltage will go into the ground.

Peanut butter dabbed onto the hot wire at intervals will draw the attention of the predator, and if they are any animal but the cat family, they will not be able to resist tasting it.

If you know you have a cat predator, including bobcats, you will need to rig a fish inside a little cage of chicken wire and wire that to the hot wire. It will then turn into 10,000 volts of fish when the wire in energized, guaranteeing the wild cat will never ever come back.

The charger puts out a pulse, not alternating current as you have in your house. This makes it nearly impossible for anything to die if they touch it. Small birds can get electrocuted if they happen to land on the hot wire and also touch grounded metal at the same time. Kids will get a shock, you can get a shock, but no one will be injured.

I've watched my two roosters with the hot wire. One will touch it and run off screaming as if a monster is after him. The younger roo will touch it and get bit, then he'll "fight the fence", biting it, getting bit back, and the game continues until the little idiot gets tired of getting shocked.

You can also buy an inexpensive fence tester. I recommend it. That way you can be sure your fence is operating as it should without having to test it by touching it yourself.

 

[dgriffi3]

Thank you! So sorry for the slow response, I've been spending all my free time securing the run/coop (and I don't have a lot of free time!) Here is a photo of our setup. We inherited the whole thing from neighbors, and I've been reinforcing week wood and adding support beams and a hardware cloth apron for the last 2 weeks. I hate hardware cloth.

They chicks have been sleeping in the upstairs coop for the last 3 nights and so far I haven't seen any indication of any predator attempts. I haven't been able to get the electric fence up yet, but I will by this weekend. Honestly, it feels like overkill at this point because the setup seems secure, but I will feel better about traveling if it's up and running.

Thanks for all your advice!

 

[123RedBeard]

Run a strand of the electric wire about 1"-2" above the top of the hardware cloth ... take a short piece of wire and hook it to the ground rod, and to the hardware cloth ...

 

[dgriffi3]

Run a strand of the electric wire about 1"-2" above the top of the hardware cloth ... take a short piece of wire and hook it to the ground rod, and to the hardware cloth ...

Thanks! I'm new to this, and I'm not totally following. If I hook it to the hardware cloth, won't it be unable to work? The hardware cloth is half-buried under ground.

 

[dgriffi3]

For a fraction of the cost of hiring a chicken sitter to squat in your house, which may not make any difference to marauding predators, you can buy a plug-in fence charger, some small gauge fence hot wire, and some insulators, don't forget a grounding copper rod, and bait it with peanut butter.

There probably isn't a run that can be 100% secured against a determined predator, but 10,000 volts to the tongue as the animal samples the peanut butter, will convey a message that will deter that predator from ever returning. My system works on the worst predators, bears and bobcats, but my chickens may get zapped from time to time but not get hurt. No one gets hurt, including you, just shocked.

Ask at your feed store for supplies to rig your hot wire system and explain to you how it works. In just a few hours you will have peace of mind knowing your chickens are safe whether you are home or not.

Mind if I ask one more question? Here is my setup. My plan was to run 2 wires around the run, only about 6-8" away from it, at 7" and 18" height off the ground. Here's my last worry: a clever raccoon could still jump onto the top of the run from my neighbor's nearby chain-link fence. The run and coop are secure, but I do wish there were a way to get some of the electric fencing across the top of the run as well. Could that work? Maybe a criss-cross across the run itself?

Thanks for your help!

 

[123RedBeard]

There will be TWO wires coming from the charger ... one will go to the ground rod you will pound into the ground ... hook an addional wire to the ground rod, and hook it to the hardware cloth ...

The second wire will be "hot" ... that is the wire you hook to the actual new fence wire that are held in insulators ...

A critter, or person completes the circuit between the two, when they touch the "hot" wire, and received the "ZAP"!