- Dec 11, 2012
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Last fall, we moved into an old farmhouse complete with hen house & chicken run (also barns & fields to roam in!!) and as soon as we got the hen house patched up a friend gave us three very sweet hens and we started on our farming adventure. Within 3 months, all were dead from predators. It turns out that in our area weasels are known for burrowing up from underground in pursuit of their dinner... My eleven year old found the last two and so it has taken all of us about 6 months to emotionally recover and get back to the point where we want to take the risk again. Our first step, I think, needs to be to pour concrete (with a center drain for cleaning) over the whole floor of the coop. Then, although the coop is structurally sound, I want to go ahead and reinforce the sides with either half cinder blocks or brick siding (just for our peace of mind!) Any other suggestions that you can think of that will make our house more secure? I also want to buy a young pygmy goat to raise with the chickens in the hopes that the goat will help protect them if I keep it in the coop with them at night. It is a very large coop so there should be plenty of room for several chickens and a small goat. In addition to the soon to be acquired chickens and goat(s), we also have 12 cats, all rescues, and 3 teen/tween boys. We all believe very strongly in living as naturally as possible and so this is the next logical step for us. However, we bond with all of our animals (hence the 12 cats!) and so we are very concerned with making sure that our animals are as safe as possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
