As far as I can tell, most of this section of the forum seems to be a place where people can ask for advice to heal their attacked chickens, and get comfort for the ones who didn't make it. But I'm having a hard time finding posts that say how to deter predators. Someone told me that having a covered run would protect from birds and coons , but though I understand since the birds see from above it eterrs them, but what about coons? Why would covering the top of the run get rid of them? or did that person mean I should cover the whole run? If that's the case, whats the point of a run then if they don't get any sunshine? Also, My neighborhood has coyotes a lot, so I'm worried about one knocking over my tractor run. if I cover the bottom with some chicken wire and reinforce it with some metal or wooden pieces across and diagonal would that be enough to deter a larger predator? I don't think I'm describing my idea well, so I'll rephrase it, if I make a triangle design for the shape seen below, this would be on all sides, with wood or metal as the bars, and chicken wire in the gaps. if I made a rectangle of that, do you think it would withstand the odd daylight urban coyote? _____________ |\\ | /|\\ | | \\ | / | \\ | | \\ | / | \\ | | \\|/ | \\| ---------------------
For predators, especially raccoons, you need mesh like hardware cloth that is strong and has no opening greater than 1/2". any generations of chicken owners will confirm this. Worth every penny.
For covering the run, most people don't use something that would block out sunlight - I use a shrimp net to cover my entire run, for example: Wow - that's a really old picture! I just noticed there is actually grass in the run in that picture - something that has been gone for quit some time! At any rate, some use hardware cloth, or something similar for the cover. I've never had a chicken tractor, so I'm not sure what it would take to secure it to the ground so that a large animal can't knock it over. Your plan sounds good to me though. And I just wanted to second what LynneP said about using hardware cloth around the bottom of your run/chicken tractor. A friend of mine came home to a chicken that had been pulled through the fencing as far as it would go - and it's head was eaten off. Yuck.
