San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[perchie.girl]

They have a coop and run that I lock up at night, so they are safe from raccoon, etc when they're sleeping. I have a mastiff mix who has a fixation on fuzzy things, so if I left him out to "protect" the girls, I may end up with a couple of accidentally maimed bantams. The only thing that is an issue for me right now is this freaking cat who keeps popping over the fence to get my girls. I don't want to keep them confined to the run, but this cat is super crafty and I'm afraid she is going to grab one of my girls before I have a chance to stop her. :-/

I guess I was keying in on the word evening.... The only way to keep a cat out of the yard would be to put hotwire around the top of the fence Or extend the fence with something less than sturdy..... cats wont climb things that they feel wont support them. But its not going to be pretty.

I did some research a while back about building a cat proof fence to keep my cats in the yard.... It would work too for keeping cats out....

Here a link to pictures but it will involve reversing the fence to keep them out.... and your neighbors might not sign up....

Cat Proof fencing

There is another way to do cat exclusion is to put a flat hat on your fence of wire.... over hang a foot or so on both sides. but you can support it from your side.


good luck deb

 

[Merry Lew]

That's a really awesome idea....thinking that a hot wire around the top might be enough to stop him.

 

[RHRanch]

This may sound mean, but I have a racoon trap and when I see a cat, I set the trap out (It's a live catch trap). Once I catch the cat, I bring it back to the owners and let them know that usually I just take them to the animal shelter, and that I can't promise that next time that I will remember where he lives. (I wouldn't really do that, but they don't know that!) With stray cats, I just take them to the county shelter.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi Merry Lew. If it's not this big orange tabby, it will be another at another time. Silkies are defenseless. They can't even fly. They need to be in a secure run all the time. I'd work on enlarging their run and only letting them out when you're sitting out there. Even that won't deter a hawk from swooping down out of no where. My sister lives in tract housing in La Mesa. Her neighbors two Pugs were ripped into pieces all over the patio by what we think was a fox. There are all sorts of predators that you don't see. You risk their safety every time you let them out. I have free range chickens that are all large fowl. I've lost one to a hawk and a couple to a coyote. I have bantams but they are in a covered run 24/7. I know I couldn't move quick enough if anything were to try to take them. People have had their pets taken at their feet...it just takes you by surprise and there's nothing you can do about it. My bantams are happy. I find ways to enrich their environment. They don't know what they're missing. Also, I have roosters, but that's not a guarantee. I've lost birds despite having them.

 

[RHRanch]

Hi Merry Lew. If it's not this big orange tabby, it will be another at another time. Silkies are defenseless. They can't even fly. They need to be in a secure run all the time. I'd work on enlarging their run and only letting them out when you're sitting out there. Even that won't deter a hawk from swooping down out of no where. My sister lives in tract housing in La Mesa. Her neighbors two Pugs were ripped into pieces all over the patio by what we think was a fox. There are all sorts of predators that you don't see. You risk their safety every time you let them out. I have free range chickens that are all large fowl. I've lost one to a hawk and a couple to a coyote. I have bantams but they are in a covered run 24/7. I know I couldn't move quick enough if anything were to try to take them. People have had their pets taken at their feet...it just takes you by surprise and there's nothing you can do about it. My bantams are happy. I find ways to enrich their environment. They don't know what they're missing. Also, I have roosters, but that's not a guarantee. I've lost birds despite having them.

X2

My bantams are also in a pen. Hawks will take them in a minute, and there are hawks in the city as well as the country. One day, a hawk will notice your silkies, and he will come back every day until you have no bantams left.

 

[Merry Lew]

Uggghhh I just hate it because my girls LOVE to be out in the yard. If I come into the yard they will all start sprinting towards me, flying and jumping around, they are so cute and have so much fun being out there. I guess the safest bet would be to build them a large chicken tractor so i can still move them around to "free range" safely when I'm not out there supervising. Thought about getting a roo, but that would probably just create more problems (I only have 4 hens.)

Looks like it's time to hit the drawing board! Thanks for all the advice.

 

[alisar]

I'm so glad you saved them. Up here in Temecula we have these GIANT golden eagles, they took a couple of my grow out chickens before I took them to the farm. I always see "lost"signs for small dogs and cats... I always think they are got picked off by some sort hawk or eagle.

 

[perchie.girl]

Uggghhh I just hate it because my girls LOVE to be out in the yard. If I come into the yard they will all start sprinting towards me, flying and jumping around, they are so cute and have so much fun being out there. I guess the safest bet would be to build them a large chicken tractor so i can still move them around to "free range" safely when I'm not out there supervising. Thought about getting a roo, but that would probably just create more problems (I only have 4 hens.)

Looks like it's time to hit the drawing board! Thanks for all the advice.

yOu know I been thinking about your situation..... Depending on the size of your yard its not too difficult to net over the whole thing. Supported in the middle with a kind of tether ball kind of thing Tire on the bottom pole up through the middle and a soccer ball or actual teather ball stuck on top. You can toss the net over and fasten it to the fence. Nets come in HUGE sizes and not too expensive either.

For what its worth I gave up on the cat proofing fence in favor of doing this for my yard. I havent done this yet but I am planning on two netted areas one for the poultry which will be twenty by fifty or so feet. and one for the yard next to the house where the goats reside.... which is double that in size. But I have a tree in the mix so need to figure that one out. The deal is I want to be able to run poultry in with the goats occasionally.

Net source four aviary netting.... Aviary netting

There are many many many other sources but the one above is worth it even if you have to replace it every year.

deb

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

I definitely agree with Knock Knee Hen. You need an enclosure for your silkie. Get her another pal to be with and I bet you she won't care (especially silkies don't need much space) not only predators could get to her easily but one of your big girls could someday hurt her and knowing silkies have vaulted skulls (basically they have a hole in the head, so if they get peck in the head, they are pretty much dead or injured for life).

 

[OScarlet]

I bought a dog run for mine that I can move around the yard. I had it under some trees yesterday during the day and the girls took dustbaths all day long, then in the afternoon I moved it around one of my raised planter beds with sprawling tomatoes and they had a ball there too. Much easier than building a tractor.