Quote:
Chicken wire works well to keep hawks and other flyers out, but ANY ground predator can go through it easily. Our acre is fenced in with a dog running around. That keeps ground varments away, especially the 2 legged kind.
If I need more protection I would use Welded Wire and/or hardware cloth. I would also have 6" skirt of the wire on the ground around the pen to keep out diggers.
Matt
Thanks Matt
My tractor is going to be for the non-flyers to get out a few hours a day without worrying about hawks. My 3 EEs just free range if we're home (we're in a fenced in area between the neighbor's horse fields and our cow fields). The EEs just stay between the house and the coop during the day. It's pretty wooded, but lately I've seen/heard hawks around.
I'm MORE worried about letting the silkies out, but still might make two so that if we're not out there I can feel more safe about the EEs and Orpingtons. The run attached to our coop is smallish- 4x14 or so...so I like to let them out most days unless we won't be on the property. Right now the Silkies and Orpingtons are only 11 &12 weeks, so they still live on the porch and don't go outside to free range without me standing guard.
I haven't had problems with ground predators...except at night- I know there is a fox and a family of racoons but none of them have attempted to get in the coop...it's locked up tight. My girls are all locked up during dusk and I've only seen them in the middle of darkness.
Coop pic which gives you an idea of how shaded the yard is:
The chickens don't venture past it, where you see sun shining. Maybe they know better?
Does anyone use a mobile run/tractor just for daytime "ranging" safety? Thanks!
Chicken wire works well to keep hawks and other flyers out, but ANY ground predator can go through it easily. Our acre is fenced in with a dog running around. That keeps ground varments away, especially the 2 legged kind.
If I need more protection I would use Welded Wire and/or hardware cloth. I would also have 6" skirt of the wire on the ground around the pen to keep out diggers.
Matt
Thanks Matt
My tractor is going to be for the non-flyers to get out a few hours a day without worrying about hawks. My 3 EEs just free range if we're home (we're in a fenced in area between the neighbor's horse fields and our cow fields). The EEs just stay between the house and the coop during the day. It's pretty wooded, but lately I've seen/heard hawks around.
I'm MORE worried about letting the silkies out, but still might make two so that if we're not out there I can feel more safe about the EEs and Orpingtons. The run attached to our coop is smallish- 4x14 or so...so I like to let them out most days unless we won't be on the property. Right now the Silkies and Orpingtons are only 11 &12 weeks, so they still live on the porch and don't go outside to free range without me standing guard.
I haven't had problems with ground predators...except at night- I know there is a fox and a family of racoons but none of them have attempted to get in the coop...it's locked up tight. My girls are all locked up during dusk and I've only seen them in the middle of darkness.
Coop pic which gives you an idea of how shaded the yard is:
Does anyone use a mobile run/tractor just for daytime "ranging" safety? Thanks!
