School chickens

[AntiqueB]

My 4 girls will be temporarily moving to my school's garden. If the project is successful, we may decide to keep some there for the full school year.

I live in the suburbs, where predators are lazy and would really much rather knock over a garbage can than go through the trouble of breaking into a coop, so my current set-up is not overly predator-proof. They have the run of the yard during the day, and a somewhat secure coop at night.

However, the school is in a city, the Bronx exactly, where predators are actually more dangerous. There are coyotes and fishers, along with the more usual suspects. The garden itself is surrounded by a 7-8' chain link fence.

I am asking for any advice regarding an easy-to-build run, feeders (I usually bring food in at night, but can't at school), etc. The coop will be inside the run, and the pop door will have to remain open all night.

Thanks for any insights and advice!

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Check out the pvc do it yourself self feeders. The janitor will appreciate those as they cause less mess, which equals less mice draw for example. I would try and add wire down to the ground and out or maybe fold in with brick on top to make digging under difficult for predators. I live in the burbs and I can safely say we have a robust wildlife population that will attack chickens in our cities and county suburbs… I drive all day, the wildlife pop is huge and quickly adapts to human schedules… predators here include bobcat, coyote, hawks, owls, snakes, coyotes, dogs, cat, racoon, opossum and mountain lion.

Good luck with the school project.

 

[Krugerrand]

My hoop run is completely covered with 1/2" hardware cloth that extends about 2' out for an apron along the ground. That completely covered part will be important for predators as was as rodents. Held down exclusively by steel T-Posts, it's super quick and easy to put together. My girls have 24-hour access to it via a bridge between the run and coop.

The basic idea I borrowed from Blooie's Motel Chix:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/motel-chix.67240/

 

[LaurelC]

This might work for you. I had a 12x12 run with a little roosting loft area (beige siding in upper left corner). The run had hardware cloth buried a foot or so into the ground. Nest box was a doghouse with a hinged lid.

 

[AntiqueB]

Both of these are great ideas! Thank you!

The pvc feeder is great, too. Mice will undoubtedly be an issue.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

You may want auto watering system for weekend…

 

[AntiqueB]

Good point!

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

During the Covid lock down here a school flock was abandoned on a school site… when a school district employee discovered them caged with no food or water in the heat it was an emergency situation… the “responsible” teaching staff flaked on it assuming others would do it and lied saying they had been checking on them, pictures don’t lie, luckily most of the birds were saved and rehomed… but the finder was dealing with fall out, wring doers always try to lie to get out of trouble…

So advice make sure the Chicken crew loves birds and is willing to check on them on holiday too.

Also feed needs to be kept in hard for rodents to get into containers… I use plastic bins, but I would like to upgrade to metal cans myself. Keep the janitor happy.

 

[AntiqueB]

I was thinking of metal bins. I remember my father used wire, springs, and hooks to keep animals out of the garbage can!

Any ideas about 2-legged predators?

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Well humans about the only thing you can do is lock the gate.