Apology in advance for this being kind of long... but...
Bah! Something tried digging into my run last night, for the first time in years. I'm not sure what it was - it could be anything, in this neighborhood. We regularly have fishers, coyotes, foxes and coons in this yard (and hawks and owls and occasionally bears, and even porcupines and the odd wandering beaver). I heard something out there at about 3:30 this morning, so of course I went running with a flashlight, but it was spooked away. Call me paranoid, but I check the entire perimeter every morning, so I know it was last night.
The coop is located in the back 2/3 of a big shed, right next to the house. This opens into the run, which is enclosed on all sides by a chain link fence, which stretches about halfway across the top of it on all sides. There is also chicken wire covering the rest of the "roof" that's not covered in chain link - the chain link was just too heavy to stretch across the whole thing without collapsing. There is also chicken wire running around the perimeter of the run, tied to the chain link, for a height of maybe 3 feet. The chain link is sunk anywhere from half a foot to two feet below ground level. (The variation is due to encountering unexpected rock ledge and the fact that the birds have been digging next to the fence for the past 2+ years and eroded it, despite how often I try to refill it. Silly birds.)
So, something dug like mad next to the outer side of the run, at the precise location where my new pullets have been digging like mad from the inside out for their dust bathing for the past two weeks. Whatever tried to get in got a lot of soil out of the way, and even tried to move a flat stone that sits under the storm door that leads to the run. (I insisted that it needed big stones there, because something could easily dig out soil under the door and get in.) I placed bigger, flatter rocks under the door today. Large slabs of nice bluestone that was meant for better things. 8sigh*
Anyway... now I'm paranoid. I don't have the time or materials on hand to totally refill the edge of the run, so to tide me over, I stuffed every possible access point with large chunks of old landscaping timber that's lying around. (Try moving THAT overnight, you S.O.B.!) Am I just extremely lucky that nothing has squeezed through the chain link in all this time? Am I really going to have to make a cocoon out of 1/4" netting to keep stuff out? And what can I do to reinforce the edges, now that the birds are all digging next to the sides??? I thought I had an impregnable fortress out there!
I really don't want to lock the birds up in the coop every night and have to let them out in the early morning, but it's an option, I suppose.
Bah! Something tried digging into my run last night, for the first time in years. I'm not sure what it was - it could be anything, in this neighborhood. We regularly have fishers, coyotes, foxes and coons in this yard (and hawks and owls and occasionally bears, and even porcupines and the odd wandering beaver). I heard something out there at about 3:30 this morning, so of course I went running with a flashlight, but it was spooked away. Call me paranoid, but I check the entire perimeter every morning, so I know it was last night.
The coop is located in the back 2/3 of a big shed, right next to the house. This opens into the run, which is enclosed on all sides by a chain link fence, which stretches about halfway across the top of it on all sides. There is also chicken wire covering the rest of the "roof" that's not covered in chain link - the chain link was just too heavy to stretch across the whole thing without collapsing. There is also chicken wire running around the perimeter of the run, tied to the chain link, for a height of maybe 3 feet. The chain link is sunk anywhere from half a foot to two feet below ground level. (The variation is due to encountering unexpected rock ledge and the fact that the birds have been digging next to the fence for the past 2+ years and eroded it, despite how often I try to refill it. Silly birds.)
So, something dug like mad next to the outer side of the run, at the precise location where my new pullets have been digging like mad from the inside out for their dust bathing for the past two weeks. Whatever tried to get in got a lot of soil out of the way, and even tried to move a flat stone that sits under the storm door that leads to the run. (I insisted that it needed big stones there, because something could easily dig out soil under the door and get in.) I placed bigger, flatter rocks under the door today. Large slabs of nice bluestone that was meant for better things. 8sigh*
Anyway... now I'm paranoid. I don't have the time or materials on hand to totally refill the edge of the run, so to tide me over, I stuffed every possible access point with large chunks of old landscaping timber that's lying around. (Try moving THAT overnight, you S.O.B.!) Am I just extremely lucky that nothing has squeezed through the chain link in all this time? Am I really going to have to make a cocoon out of 1/4" netting to keep stuff out? And what can I do to reinforce the edges, now that the birds are all digging next to the sides??? I thought I had an impregnable fortress out there!
I really don't want to lock the birds up in the coop every night and have to let them out in the early morning, but it's an option, I suppose.
