Property Fence height?

[selah925]

I'm pretty sure that a coyote (or two) got three of our free range chickens yesterday in the middle of the day. We have been planning to fence our 2.5 acres, but now I am wondering if a fence will keep a coyote out. Will they jump it? Not sure what to do. Just keeping the chickens confined to their coop right now. Any suggestions?

 

[CrazyTalk]

It depends on the fence, and whether or not you're using electric to supplement. Coyotes don't really jump fences - they scale them - they jump as high as they can and get part of their body on the top and pull themselves up. If there's a hotwire at the top, or near the top, they never finish the attempt - instead they go running off into the woods screaming.

Middle of the day is probably more likely to be a fox.

 

[selah925]

Do you think a barbwire across the top would be sufficient? Or not deterrent enough?

It does seem odd, but it was too large for a fox, but I don't think large enough for a wolf. I saw a fox about a month ago, but this wasn't the same coloring. And would a fox get more than one chicken at a time?

 

[CrazyTalk]

If you saw it and think it was a coyote - it probably was. They're just not as common during the day - they're certainly out there though. (and they come in pretty much every color)

Foxes are more likely to grab and run, whereas coyotes and dogs are more like to kill a whole flock and then start taking them away - but a fox will usually come right back if he gets away with a bird - and grab more. It all depends on what the opportunity is and whether or not they're interrupted (or think they have a narrow window).


I'm not a fan of barbed wire - it's less effective, more expensive, and more dangerous than electric fence.

 

[Primo]

I don't believe any deterrent is 100 percent efective. You do the best you can and go from there. Coyotes will certainly come out during the day, my chickens were most vulnerable during the day. Coytes figured this out and started showing up in the afternoons (look up my posts from a couple months ago, I killed 2 that were stalking and killing my flock 1 at a time day to day)
I have since bought and moved into a 38 acre place that is almost all woods and loaded with coyotes. I hear them calling at all hours.
The first thing I did was build a 90 foot by 50 foot safe pen for both my chickens and goats. It is 6' non climb horse fence with an apron of 4' chain link on the bottom to prevent digging. I then installed 3 strand electric surrounding the pen. As a backup if the electric goes down I am going to install 2 strands of barbed wire across the top and wrap the brace posts in it.
I would not go through all this just for the chickens. I am doing it for the goats who are my wife's "kids". Is it good enough? Probably not but the best I can do right now and was very costly.
I would also like to add, my protective pit bull was with the chickens when the Coyotes were picking them off one by one. They outsmarted him. You can not underestimate a hungry predator

 

[centrarchid]

I have setup a group of paddocks defined by either simple electric wire of electrified poultry netting. The coyotes, like my dogs, can jump the fencing but they do not in trying to avoid getting shocked. My dogs or the possibility of them makes the coyotes even more wary and less inclined to challenge the fence.

The hotwire id generally easier to work with and prettier than barbed wire than can also be made hot.

 

[heirloommaters]

If you can hear coyotes, how close are they?