Texas

[TherryChicken]

daddy

 

[TherryChicken]

Walked out in the yard to make sure Miss Priss was okay when I saw her. Turns out she was just sunning herself. I thought something had killed her.

lol they are good at that

 

[tiedyemommy]

Walked out in the yard to make sure Miss Priss was okay when I saw her. Turns out she was just sunning herself. I thought something had killed her.

Sunbathing chickens are cool & disturbing at the same time. Glad all is well.

 

[tiedyemommy]

daddy

What a handsome family. We learned, first-hand, that we are not duck people...sorry we can't be more help. I'll keep an eye out and see if I know anyone who might be able to take 'em off your hands for you.

 

[Brookshire11]

These babies and their daddy need good homes

They are so adorable!!
I wish I could! Too far and my yard really isn't big enough :/

 

[TherryChicken]

What a handsome family.  We learned, first-hand, that we are not duck people...sorry we can't be more help.  I'll keep an eye out and see if I know anyone who might be able to take 'em off your hands for you.

thank you

They are so adorable!!
I wish I could! Too far and my yard really isn't big enough :/

good thing about muscoviea, not too picky, unless you have more then one male

 

[bnjrob]

Hi guys! My name's Amanda, I'm in Cedar Creek, just outside Bastrop/Austin area. Love it here, it's country enough but still within an hour to just about everything I need. I live on a road called Possum Hollow and boy if it ain't true to it's name! I'm constantly trapping possum and coons...the raccoons are the worst. The issue I'm having is the soil here is so sandy and soft that, with a few days of determination, the raccoons can dig in. We've buried chicken wire under 6"x6" stone and every few weeks we still find we're missing a hen. SO...we planted Cannas really thick around 2 sides of the coop which has served as snacks and shade for the flock, and we buried giant cedar logs on the other 2 sides and that's helped quite a bit. That said, it's still a non-stop fight. I'd love a PM from folks in the area with similar issues!

Chicken wire keeps chickens in but it will not keep out predators. Raccoons can tear through chicken wire as well as reach through chicken wire and pull out a chicken in pieces. If they are digging under, you need to dig pretty deep around coop, and at the minimum use 2 x 3 inch holed welded wire, preferably 1/4 hardware cloth, extend it a good 6-12 inches straight down below ground level and then angle it outward horizontally another foot. Some people find that they have to pour concrete quite deep and wide around their pen to stop an aggressive digger. If your pen is only made out of chicken wire, continue to expect losses until you completely rewire with something sturdier.

 

[bosingleton]

Chicken wire keeps chickens in but it will not keep out predators.  Raccoons can tear through chicken wire as well as reach through chicken wire and pull out a chicken in pieces.  If they are digging under, you need to dig pretty deep around coop, and at the minimum use 2 x 3 inch holed welded wire, preferably 1/4 hardware cloth, extend it a good 6-12 inches straight down below ground level and then angle it outward horizontally another foot.  Some people find that they have to pour concrete quite deep and wide around their pen to stop an aggressive digger.  If your pen is only made out of chicken wire,  continue to expect losses until you completely rewire with something sturdier. 

Great Pyrenees!!

 

[frillydishes]

Chicken wire keeps chickens in but it will not keep out predators. Raccoons can tear through chicken wire as well as reach through chicken wire and pull out a chicken in pieces. If they are digging under, you need to dig pretty deep around coop, and at the minimum use 2 x 3 inch holed welded wire, preferably 1/4 hardware cloth, extend it a good 6-12 inches straight down below ground level and then angle it outward horizontally another foot. Some people find that they have to pour concrete quite deep and wide around their pen to stop an aggressive digger. If your pen is only made out of chicken wire, continue to expect losses until you completely rewire with something sturdier.

Great Pyrenees!!

Thanks for the response guys!! Luckily I haven't had issue with coons tearing through the chicken wire, and it's big enough that I haven't had any pulled through. I have a smaller coop at my office (I have a garden center and I keep some of the youngsters there) and I have come in to all my birds stuck to the wall missing their heads. It was tragic and the wood walls went up the same day. I'm looking into the hardware cloth now and I'll probably plant canna or ginger over it, they don't even try and go through the 2 walls I planted cannas along, the roots are really thick and deep and they kinda stink and they made a nice 2.5' deep "hedge" in less than a year.

As for the Great Pyrenees, you read my mind! The last 4 months have been the only time in my entire life I've been without a dog. My last dog never showed an interest in the chicks that we kept in my mud room till they were ready for the great outdoors but one day, out of the blue, he slaughtered all but 1 out of 18...that was the end of that dog. We'd play with the chicks in the house and they'd jump on him & he could care less, it was a total shock. Since then, I've decided if we get another dog we need a dog for the chickens first...one that'll protect them from the second dog we get for the family. Do you have one bosingleton? My flock has about 1.5 acres of my land that is fenced that they patrol and it's long an narrow. I share a long fence line with a neighbor and it's rather wooded along that side of the fence so they like to fly over the fence into the neighbors yard for a good third of the day. The neighbor doesn't mind but I'm afraid if I get them a flock dog that the dog isn't going to respond well to not being able to get to his flock every afternoon. That leads me to think I may need to cut their wings but I'm really not a fan of that. Any thoughts on that??

 

[topdycke]

Chicken wire keeps chickens in but it will not keep out predators. Raccoons can tear through chicken wire as well as reach through chicken wire and pull out a chicken in pieces. If they are digging under, you need to dig pretty deep around coop, and at the minimum use 2 x 3 inch holed welded wire, preferably 1/4 hardware cloth, extend it a good 6-12 inches straight down below ground level and then angle it outward horizontally another foot. Some people find that they have to pour concrete quite deep and wide around their pen to stop an aggressive digger. If your pen is only made out of chicken wire, continue to expect losses until you completely rewire with something sturdier.

I would also suggest laying stall mats and then laying the soil or deep litter over that as a base on the inside.