Reinforcing a coopy

[Chickengirl64]

I recently lost all my chickens to a weasel. I plan on reinforcing the sides as suggested with the hardware cloth down from the sides and out. What do you do with a fence gate? I have a fence gate on one end so I can clean the coop out as there's no access from the barn side (the previous owner put up a solid sheet of plywood with a chicken door). Thanks. Chickengirl 64

 

[thomasboyle]

Very sorry for your losses. Do you have pictures you can post so we can see what you have?

 

[RJSorensen]

Sorry to hear of your loss… that is just something that is hard to get over. In regards to the gate, since you don't have a photo of it, it is hard to tell what to do. But you most likely need a door made of hardware cloth over a 2 x 2 wood frame or such, and then with a 'fixed' frame of wood you can build and or plug up the hole the offender used to gain access to your birds. It is somewhat scary to see how little a hole can lead to disaster. Many folks live in bliss, never knowing the same could happen at anytime, should the varmint chose to visit them.

Anyway half inch hardware cloth and lumber with an eye to a tight fit, will go a long way in protecting your flock in the future.

Best to you as you repair things and begin again. You will have a much sharper eye in light of the incident, let this be the last time your flock is harmed in the run/coop.

Regards,

RJ

 

[DesertLab]

Our guinea and chicken hen pen back up to our 15 acres of woods. What we did was the bottom 3 feet of the pen is wrapped in corrugated
Steel from Home Depot. Any gaps we filled in with spray foam insulation... It comes in a spray can. For a door we used a Dutch door idea. Our chickens do not have a ramp .... They have to fly a few feet up to get into the pen. However they do just fine with that. We leave the top of the door open all day ... The bottom is closed. If the gang needs an afternoon nap, an escape from something looking for an afternoon snack, etc. they can go into the pen anytime they want to. We close the top door at night and everyone is safe. Above the steel our pen has fencing up to the covered roof. Because the metal is smooth rat snakes can't get into it either. I saw one trying but he could not get enough "grip" or find any gaps to get in.. He was then relocated across the road 1/4 mile away.
All the best to you.

 

[Chickengirl64]

I'm concerned about the fence gate showed in the top photo. The 2nd photo shows where the predator was getting in - I'm planning on using hardware cloth (1/2") down into the ground and out from the coop at ground level. The third photo shows where they got into the inner coop - there's a hole at the far side of the plywood. Behind the rock is a door closed by hook & eye.

Any suggestions will be most appreciated. A neighbor is holding 6 of his chickens for me, but i need to get the coop reinforced as not to become a weasel buffet. I also have a live trap.

 

[Chickengirl64]

All great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing Never though of the foam insulation idea - i have a can of that - it worked wonderful for squirrels.