I have only bantam pullets. My coop is illegal as all hell, and I have made the mistake of becoming that "Crazy Chicken Lady" who names the members of her flock, only to be sorely dismayed when the Predator/Prey relationships rear their ugly heads and the chickens come out (dead) last.
The last straw was when my favorite girl was taken out in broad daylight in the woods. Must' ve been a ground dweller, because all the other chickens were in the trees, screaming wildly. I saw the pile of feathers, heart sinking. I found her foot, still warm.
Now, as you know, raising them from chicks takes awhile to get to egg bearing age.I was losing them too quickly. Finally bit the bullet and built an extended run (their current pad is 4X6 elevated coop,with run 6x12'). Materials are not inexpensive,but I was tired of losing girls.
This is actually the final run....8X12 of wooded heaven, lol.Their other run has wire fencing beneath it (to prevent predator digging), with a thick layer of sand on top. The extension is a daytime run, so but it does have the wire apron. Hardware cloth on the bottom half, garden fencing stuff on top and the top of the run is covered. heck, I learned a lot from this forum.I actually pulled in a big ol piece of decomposing log for the girls to roost and dig around on.....
this is the tunnel that adjoins the two runs. It was nerve wracking to cut a hole in the main run.....anyhow, its a pretty solid little hardware cloth tunnel.
This photo shows the sliding door at nighttime, in case the predator successfully gets into the daytime run at night...itll run into the solid door that can't be wedged aside.
Here is moi with a very cool sign given to me from my MIL.
This is Pompadoo, part of the new group of girls. after the run was built, she and her buddies were chilling on the log...totally unaware of the bobcat that was hunkered about 20 ft from the coop (it left when I showed up).
By the way, if anyone wants to connect on FB....I have an open group called "Chickens That Cross Roads"...its dedicated to chickens, of course, and solar oven cooking, gardening, anything "green". In case you want to yak and post pics.
The last straw was when my favorite girl was taken out in broad daylight in the woods. Must' ve been a ground dweller, because all the other chickens were in the trees, screaming wildly. I saw the pile of feathers, heart sinking. I found her foot, still warm.
Now, as you know, raising them from chicks takes awhile to get to egg bearing age.I was losing them too quickly. Finally bit the bullet and built an extended run (their current pad is 4X6 elevated coop,with run 6x12'). Materials are not inexpensive,but I was tired of losing girls.
This is actually the final run....8X12 of wooded heaven, lol.Their other run has wire fencing beneath it (to prevent predator digging), with a thick layer of sand on top. The extension is a daytime run, so but it does have the wire apron. Hardware cloth on the bottom half, garden fencing stuff on top and the top of the run is covered. heck, I learned a lot from this forum.I actually pulled in a big ol piece of decomposing log for the girls to roost and dig around on.....
this is the tunnel that adjoins the two runs. It was nerve wracking to cut a hole in the main run.....anyhow, its a pretty solid little hardware cloth tunnel.
This photo shows the sliding door at nighttime, in case the predator successfully gets into the daytime run at night...itll run into the solid door that can't be wedged aside.
Here is moi with a very cool sign given to me from my MIL.
This is Pompadoo, part of the new group of girls. after the run was built, she and her buddies were chilling on the log...totally unaware of the bobcat that was hunkered about 20 ft from the coop (it left when I showed up).
By the way, if anyone wants to connect on FB....I have an open group called "Chickens That Cross Roads"...its dedicated to chickens, of course, and solar oven cooking, gardening, anything "green". In case you want to yak and post pics.
