Short story long, I have about 7 fenced acres- perimeter fenced with 4' high, 2"x4" woven wire. This is to keep the dogs in, I know it doesn't do much to keep out preditors. The chicken coop & run you see in the photo above is very secure with hardwire cloth at the bottom + chicken wire all on chain link with a covered roof. The coop & run is inside a horse paddock, about 1/4 acre, that has 5' chainlink with hot wire up the outside and on the top, and that is well inside the outside perimeter fence. And as you can see we work the dogs (obedience & agility type stuff) right in that paddock, so their smell is everywhere. Dogs are mostly wherever we are. When we're inside, they are usually inside, if we are out, the dogs go out. They do bark, run the fence if they see/smell/hear something and generally make themselves known several times a day. The chickens were previously free range (for 5 years!) on the 7 acres and the dogs got along with them and never bothered them, but I wouldn't say they watched over them. The chickens were only closed up in cold weather, so they were usually out at dawn & in at dusk as they pleased. In October a hen was killed at dawn. We put them in lockdown for 3 days, assuming a coyote. 10 days later another vanished without a trace in the middle of the day. She was there in the morning and around noon, then gone at 3:30 pm with the flock packed together in the barn it was obvious there had been an attack. So we locked down again, reinforced the hot wire, barricaded the paddock so the chickens couldn't go beyond that and after 5 more days just let them out for a couple of hours in the evening. We watched them and checked constantly, let the dogs bark at anything around, and it was quiet for 2 weeks. I was still assuming coyote, but Friday I was in the house for about 30 minutes at dusk and came back out to lock the coop and I heard the hot wire clicking and found it down and shorting out on the chainlink. Sure enough another chicken gone. And FINALLY it was on the critter cam, and not the coyote I was thinking. So obviously I cannot let them out of the coop/run again until this cat is gone. Ugh. My chickens aren't pets, but I do love them & they all have names. They are really shaken up between the attacks and the lockdown and the rooster hasn't crowed for 3 weeks, so I know they are feeling it too. I didn't design the coop & run for 24/7 housing, but better sad than dead at this point. Thanks for answering back, I'll touch base if we find a way to get the cat.
