Sumatra Thread!

[dsfrango]

Oh no! Raccoons were around my chicken coop the other night but I shooed them away. How did they get in? I'm so worried about my chickens... I have them in those flimsy coops that I ordered online :/

I would recommend getting one of those havahart traps and just always keep it set next to the coop.it will catch and/or distract them. You can either dispose or relocate if you prefer but I wouldn't recommend that, they can always find their way back. Better in a live trap than in your coop. I've baited with eggs or suet. Eggs don't have much smell so it won't attract critters unless there right next to your coop

 

[jonservidio]

i've heard dry cat food, or sardines in the trap.

they can break through chicken wire like it's not even there, and from my own personal experience, they can even break 2x4 welded wire

you need to get them before they get your chickens. if there is a weak link, they will find it, and will kill every chicken that they can get ahold of.

 

[dheltzel]

they can break through chicken wire like it's not even there, and from my own personal experience, they can even break 2x4 welded wire

It depends on the gauge of the welded wire. I have some plastic coated thin welded wire that is easily deformed and broken with bare hands. But mostly I use the heavy galvanized 2x4 welded wire from TSC, and I'm quite sure nothing short of a bear (or human with a tool) can get through that. I don't have experience with coyotes or wolves, so I suppose they might be a threat too.

I'm mentioning this because I wouldn't want people to think a coon will break through any welded wire. They absolutely will reach through and pull a head or other body part back through for a snack, but they aren't getting into the coop.

I use welded wire anyplace that I know a coon won't reach through (or won't find anything to eat if he does). If there are young birds in the pen, then I use 18 - 24" of 1/2 HW cloth around the bottom, with welded wire the rest of the way up and over the top. Welded wire is also great for making an "anti-digging" skirt outside the pens. I lay it all around the perimeter, about 2 ft out, so the fox has to back up at least that far to start digging successfully. So far, none have even tried.

 

[ramirezframing]

Quote: I've had a dog break through this wire in under an hour. I've also had dogs rearrange chain link fence and slip through it.

Good luck to everyone with the predator problems.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Because I had problems in the past with unfriendly critters, I put brick down under the whole chicken coop area, ringed the coop with bricks as well to make it harder for rodents or snakes to get in... the critters burrowed under in the past. I have coons, hawks, snakes, possums, dogs, coyotes, skunks, cats and lord knows what else in the area. I am near a wildlife highway (a creek) so even mountain lions sometimes end up in our neighborhoods around here... my coop is a little prefab thing. So far the brick is working, I do worry about coons though as they are smart enough to unlatch things.

 

[jonservidio]

I also have the wire on the ground around the perimeter of their yard. I use the galvanized type, they somehow broke the welds. I have since put up the 1x2 welded, over the 2x4

I had a dog that chewed through a chain link fence, in less than an hour. she was the dog from hell. I miss her. lol

 

[artblueggwanter]

I tried introducing my Sumatra now just about 5 months to my shamo mixed hen, what a mistake.


she just does not respect el bruto as a cock yet. I thought for sure she would give in, no luck there. so I picked both of them up and el brutos nail got caught on his own thoat and he gouged his self. he is tall but skinny held his own but in the end he suffered a self inflicted battle wound . they are gonna be paired but he will have to be some 9 months before I try that again. he is healing well thou

 

[ramirezframing]

Not all females will accept all males. I have read in several places where hens can reject the males sperm. I personally have a silkie hen that has killed a couple of silkie roosters, and never gave me a fertilized egg off of those roosters. Good luck getting them together.

 

[artblueggwanter]

I am hoping that once he gets his full weight and gets a little older, perhaps a couple of spurs he will be able to show her who is boss. he is just a little bit taller than her once he gains weight he might intimidate her

 

[register]

Oh no! Raccoons were around my chicken coop the other night but I shooed them away. How did they get in? I'm so worried about my chickens... I have them in those flimsy coops that I ordered online

When I first got my chickens it didnt seem that too many critters were bothering them....I had them free range during the day. Then I noticed the mexican hawks were grabbing one everyday or so. Then my friends dog stayed the night and tore through the coops and killed all of my chickens. They were about five months old and a beautiful mix of silkies, yokohamas, cubalyas, OEGs and some phoneix. The dog tore through the gates on two coops, tearing the door off the hinges. On the third coop she grabbed the little ones through the chicken wire and killed them even though she couldnt get their bodies out....I was so upset...

I went ahead and bought a second batch of chicks after the dog was gone, but by then I guess my home had become the local chicken buffet-the hawks would pick off anything left loose, the foxes knabbed three older chickens I got and then I found snakes in the coop where the month old chicks were. Every weekend I would add more layers, but then the racoons ate all the babies one night after they tore through the mesh...

We just completed what my sister likes to call chicken alcatraz. I took part of my wrap around wooden porch, added 2 by 4 galvanized wire, layered with chicken wire, then layered with metal hardware meshing. Then we took sheets of plastic roofing and put on three sides and then concreted the entire base down into the house foundation and nailed all the meshing into the roof. Ive concluded the number of chickens I may have will be small, but I WILL have at least a few, as I love to watch them putter around and the oriental breeds are so beautiful!