Small run feedback?

[schambo]

This is my small, suburban, backyard chicken run. It’s about 8’x10’ with some little cut ins and outs and odd shapes for what is currently 4 chickens (one hen, three pullets).

The floor is mostly wood mulch and backyard cast-offs (grass, leaves, etc.). It’s under a huge tree, so the ground there already had that kind of forest-floor texture.

The prefab coop is the current coop, but I have plans to build a new, larger coop in the next month or two. The stocky reddish one with the round roof is an integration coop/hospital/whatever but when it’s not in use it has a door into the run and just adds living space (it has about 8 sq. ft. of floor space in the bottom, and a little roosting area above with a cramped 6 sq. ft.)

I know the fencing and netting won’t deter predators; my intent with it is keeping chickens in, not keeping predators out. Our main predator in town are raccoons, and I keep the chickens locked up in their reasonably secure coop at night.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

It's cute. Some of mine would hop right over the house against the house. Ultimately I'd put tall chain link panels around the whole thing with flimsy wire on top so that racoon's don't end the adventure..... Do you have dog patrol ? That's certainly helpful for keeping racoon's out. It only take's one time with racoon's before you realize how awful they are.

 

[schambo]

It's cute. Some of mine would hop right over the house against the house. Ultimately I'd put tall chain link panels around the whole thing with flimsy wire on top so that racoon's don't end the adventure..... Do you have dog patrol ? That's certainly helpful for keeping racoon's out. It only take's one time with racoon's before you realize how awful they are.

I have added some deer netting over the house to prevent that very thing since I took that photo.

We didn’t have any evidence of raccoons all last summer (my first summer with chickens; I had two hens), but this spring I lost one of the hens to a raccoon, and I have picked it up on the security camera several times this summer. I scared it off by shining lights and banging sticks once a few weeks ago, and it hasn’t been back. I have also started using Critter Ridder and have added a motion sensor floodlight. Luckily, because I’m in town, there are lots of places for raccoons to scavenge, so so far it seems like if you make your yard or trash even slightly inconvenient they seem to just move on to someone else’s yard.

 

[schambo]

I have added some deer netting over the house to prevent that very thing since I took that photo.

We didn’t have any evidence of raccoons all last summer (my first summer with chickens; I had two hens), but this spring I lost one of the hens to a raccoon, and I have picked it up on the security camera several times this summer. I scared it off by shining lights and banging sticks once a few weeks ago, and it hasn’t been back. I have also started using Critter Ridder and have added a motion sensor floodlight. Luckily, because I’m in town, there are lots of places for raccoons to scavenge, so so far it seems like if you make your yard or trash even slightly inconvenient they seem to just move on to someone else’s yard.

I’m not naive, though; I know I’m not safe from raccoon visits - just enjoying a brief break.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I hear you, I don't think you're naive. I did the same exact thing, saw a coon on night cam, installed a flood light behind my coop where what he really wanted was feral cat food. I stopped leaving cat food AND chicken food out, it's locked up. I know he moved on.... But I also know he'll come back or his uncle, cousins and BFF's. So I'm on guard, but not paranoid, mine free range 5 acres all day, locked up tight at night. Everyone has a different process. Just keep up the creative wire fencing and such and consider things that dig under too....