San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[dfdesigns]

I can help with a lead for the poultry netting... here's where I ended up buying mine:

http://www.3tproducts.com/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?pageStyle=h&idCategory=21

It's worked really well for keeping the hawks away from my birds!

 

[luvanimals2]

I hope this works. It is acting up on me.

When I had the coop and run built, I wanted Fort Knox because I heard about coyotes. I had hardware cloth wrapped around the whole run. It is in every opening. For the ground, I had it dug and wired w/ more hardware cloth on the bottom and then had blocks and concrete poured. I guess I am paranoid but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Nancy

Hey chicken folks.... I need some helpful advice here....

I need to add a run to my chicken coop. I'm pressing my luck letting them roam the yard when I'm not really watching them. A cat almost got my little OEGB hen yesterday, and I have kestrals and big hawks around too.

1. Where do I get the netting that goes over runs? I like what Dana has over her chicken run, but I haven't seen it at the box stores, and Hawthorne couldn't give me any leads.

2. What is the best way to secure the ground area so that they don't create holes to get out? I've seen some deep basins that they've dug for dust baths that could easily create an opening under a traditional fence. I also want to keep critters like cats, possoms, snakes, and raccoons out.

Thanks,
Chaili

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Congrats Renee those are such beautiful goats!!! Glad they are all doing well! Too bad on the boys though!

Okay these are the most gorgeous goats I have ever seen.I know they are from my goats and im partial to them but oh my goodness.

this is a moonspot- BUCK



this is a moonspot-BUCK



this is just cuteness color with a few spots on the legs-BUCK



can you believe it.
When i came home and saw that black one i said this is the one.
imagine my tears when i relized both the moonspots where bucks.

But I am thankful all went well with the delivery,since we were gone to our eldest sons olympic games.


Thats all the excitment over here for awhile.

also,mama doe brownie seems to be feeding her babies by herself.havent witnessed it yet but they appear full and her udder is not engorged.so im going to go goat watch for awhile ,drink my capp.and see if i can actually see it.

thank you all for the prayers for the goats.
they all came through it this year in perfect shape.
a bit of work but well worth the effort.
and i can catch up on sleep another night.
hugs

o yeah
Here is the picture of gaot 2s buck.I posted his sister a few posts back

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

You can take the edges of the netting and roll it around a 2x4 or a 4x4 all the way around the area and that will help secure it to the ground. However, no amount of netting will keep out cats, possoms, snakes, and raccoons, you need welded wire or chain link for those. And snakes are almost impossible to proof against.

Hey chicken folks.... I need some helpful advice here....

I need to add a run to my chicken coop. I'm pressing my luck letting them roam the yard when I'm not really watching them. A cat almost got my little OEGB hen yesterday, and I have kestrals and big hawks around too.

1. Where do I get the netting that goes over runs? I like what Dana has over her chicken run, but I haven't seen it at the box stores, and Hawthorne couldn't give me any leads.

2. What is the best way to secure the ground area so that they don't create holes to get out? I've seen some deep basins that they've dug for dust baths that could easily create an opening under a traditional fence. I also want to keep critters like cats, possoms, snakes, and raccoons out.

Thanks,
Chaili

 

[DonaldFan]

They are gorgous! Do you do 4H with them?

 

[igotchickens]

I bought my netting from this person on ebay: http://myworld.ebay.com/nautical-nets-bouys-and-more/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

The prices are good and I've never had anything get in (or out!), he also ships really fast. I I've bought from him twice because I expanded my run. He has all different sizes and can make custom sizes too. Hope this helps!

 

[All-American-Chick]

thank you.
no we dont do 4h with the goats.wish one of them would.they are with chickens and rabbits right now.
we use them for milk,cheese making and soap
maybe someday

They are gorgous! Do you do 4H with them?

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

THIS JUST IN!! from Froggsheins

CALLING ALL YOU SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHICKEN HEADS!!!

THIS is what you’ve all been waiting for the first official MEET-UP for 2012...


DATE: MARCH 31ST
PLACE: NORCO- NEIL SNIPES PARK on the corner of 5th and Hammer
TIME: usually start around 10AM till the cows come home!

WHAT WE DO: TALK "SHOP' BUY / TRADE / SWAP / OOGLE EVERYONES BIRDIES / meet all those people we only know by BYC names
Bring yer favorite birdies too and let them play in the sun and grass.....we all love to see everyones birds.
There is a beautiful open air pavillion w/ picnic tables that we use. PLEASE bring yer own lunch and drinks. Pot-lucks just don't work out well...but if you want to share goodies…sell goodies….COOL BEANS!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!
P.S. Of course doggies are more than welcome to come but please remember they have to be on leash, not all of the birdies are used to dogs..Thank you for your consideration with this....LOL

 

[Compost Girl]

We were paranoid, too, so our main 5 x 15 coop (also a Fort Knox) is like Nancy's. It has welded wire or heavy-guage hardware cloth wrapped on every flat surface - walls, ceiling, doors and underneath. For the floor, we dug down 18 inches, then the layer of welded wire, then we put those cheap cement Hm Dpt tiles down (no mortar or grout), to prevent anything from gnawing up underneath. I hear rats will even start to gnaw on metal wire if there's food at stake. We then added the 6" of dirt floor. So far it's working to keep everything except ants and spiders out, knock on wood, and I haven't had the chicken-screaming-in-the-wee-hours nightmare in months.

Our soon-to-be built "daytime" run will be attached to the regular run. It will have netting on the top for hawks and chicken wire on the sides, and maybe also a chicken-height plastic sheeting around the bottom, where the mammals usually hang out, if we get paranoid. We will bury cinder block or something similar around the entire floor edge of the run down at least 6" (which would probably prevent your dust bath hole thing). We figure we will lock them in the Fort every night at dusk, when the big guys come out (possums, raccoons, owls and some critter that can dig an 18-inch crater overnight and leaves scat that is big enough to entertain thoughts of bobcats), but in the meantime chicken wire and netting should keep them relatively safe in the daytime, and is not as expensive. Someone else might have a different opinion, and I'm sure it also depends on the other animals in your yard.

My Mom's regular run has the totally enclosed wire thing, except the wire/tile floor, as it is pretty big and it would have been pricey. We closed the bottom frame of her run by laying cinder block about 6" down, building on that and back-filling. If I had it to do over again I might do some kind of floor on hers, as dogs/cats/predators seem to be discouraged by the blocks, but rodents can get through any little hole, and they will dig down past the 12" line to get to grain. They eat a lot. They have a little mouse city going on in tunnels underneath her "aviary" part, and it has been hard to get rid of them once they are in there (though the chickens have nabbed one or two and consider them a good protein source - ick). If mice are a concern for you, you might want to consider that part, too.

Good luck with it, and thanks for asking, as I now have a netting source!

Elara

 

[perchie.girl]

Compost Girl.... you are in Clairemont right? don't assume you don't have Bobcats. The way San Diego is constructed everything is built on the mesas leaving the canyons free for wild life. The one who dug the hole is probably a dog of some sort though.

My Fort Knox is Dog Kennel panels Reinforced with Aviary wire. I used to raise Finches and Parakeets so I had two Aviarys as well as extras for an air lock. When I moved to my new place I bought a few more panels for a cat enclosure that never got built. Then Someone gave me four Aviarys made of the same wire. So I have available to me 75 linear feet of eleven Gauge wire panels that are six feet high. the spacings on the wire are 3 x 1/2 inches. anything that can get through those is edible. LOL

We have big rattlesnakes where I am located I have seen them stretched across the road six or more feet long. They arent a threat to adult livestock. They will come for micies though.

For chicken holes I would just run pavers along the inside of the run to move the excavation territory more inward to the run.

Before I built my Fort Knox though I lost 30 chickens in 30 days to bobcat. I have 18 acres and am surrounded by open undeveloped land that is next to BLM land and finally Mexico. So predators come around freely here.

deb

We were paranoid, too, so our main 5 x 15 coop (also a Fort Knox) is like Nancy's. It has welded wire or heavy-guage hardware cloth wrapped on every flat surface - walls, ceiling, doors and underneath. For the floor, we dug down 18 inches, then the layer of welded wire, then we put those cheap cement Hm Dpt tiles down (no mortar or grout), to prevent anything from gnawing up underneath. I hear rats will even start to gnaw on metal wire if there's food at stake. We then added the 6" of dirt floor. So far it's working to keep everything except ants and spiders out, knock on wood, and I haven't had the chicken-screaming-in-the-wee-hours nightmare in months.

Our soon-to-be built "daytime" run will be attached to the regular run. It will have netting on the top for hawks and chicken wire on the sides, and maybe also a chicken-height plastic sheeting around the bottom, where the mammals usually hang out, if we get paranoid. We will bury cinder block or something similar around the entire floor edge of the run down at least 6" (which would probably prevent your dust bath hole thing). We figure we will lock them in the Fort every night at dusk, when the big guys come out (possums, raccoons, owls and some critter that can dig an 18-inch crater overnight and leaves scat that is big enough to entertain thoughts of bobcats), but in the meantime chicken wire and netting should keep them relatively safe in the daytime, and is not as expensive. Someone else might have a different opinion, and I'm sure it also depends on the other animals in your yard.

My Mom's regular run has the totally enclosed wire thing, except the wire/tile floor, as it is pretty big and it would have been pricey. We closed the bottom frame of her run by laying cinder block about 6" down, building on that and back-filling. If I had it to do over again I might do some kind of floor on hers, as dogs/cats/predators seem to be discouraged by the blocks, but rodents can get through any little hole, and they will dig down past the 12" line to get to grain. They eat a lot. They have a little mouse city going on in tunnels underneath her "aviary" part, and it has been hard to get rid of them once they are in there (though the chickens have nabbed one or two and consider them a good protein source - ick). If mice are a concern for you, you might want to consider that part, too.

Good luck with it, and thanks for asking, as I now have a netting source!

Elara