Thoughts on raising coop entry high off the ground.

[KFCbucket]

Hi all.

My coop is nice and secure at night but during the day they are let out via an auto door into their semi secure run.

Now this setup has worked great apart resent hot days above 30 degrees Celsius ( sorry aussie here) has started to attract goannas ( large lizards) in the past the chickens know to stay away but recently two chickens were killed and yesterday I lost 5 fertile eggs i only just put under a broody hen due to eggs being the number one thing the goannas want.

Temporarly I will restrict the hens to the secure portion of the run attached to the coop but its a bit cramped for long term. Colder weather it's fine as the goannas only come out when it's hot.

I was thinking of moving their entry door about 5 or 6 feet off the ground
Then on the outside a series of roosting bars that chickens could navigate to jump/fly in but goannas would struggle to reach.

Has anyone successfully placed their entry door well of the ground requiring the chickens to jump across and into ?

 

[KFCbucket]

Not my photo/coop but this is about the same size as the bigger goanna I have nearby. Luckily the bigger one can't squeeze into the run but the smaller ones between 3 to 4 foot long can get in and its these ones im trying to stop...

 

[paintedChix]

Not my photo/coop but this is about the same size as the bigger goanna I have nearby. Luckily the bigger one can't squeeze into the run but the smaller ones between 3 to 4 foot long can get in and its these ones im trying to stop...

"O, Johanna...."

Sorry, I am not familiar w/ those predators. And I prefer to stay that way. Most pop doors I've seen up high have a ramp. But if the Goanna climbed like that, I'm thinking it wouldn't matter. If it wants the eggs, it will climb up to the non-ramped pop door.

Still - OMGosh & WOW! Eyes popping out of head emoji...

 

[KFCbucket]

They a generally slow moving unless they see you running towards your coop looking pi##ed off.

Very good climbers but they would struggle to climb the smooth steel.
If the entrance is a meter or so off the ground it might be enough.

We have pressure from everything around our house. Hawks. Owls. Kangaroos. Echidna. Snakes. Possums
Chickens can handle all that no worries but goannas getting in the coop for their eggs is the biggest problem.

 

[DobieLover]

I would string up some hot wires. That would nail them and they'd never come back. The biggest challenge would be getting the grounding rods into dampish soil.

 

[RoyalChick]

I would string up some hot wires. That would nail them and they'd never come back. The biggest challenge would be getting the grounding rods into dampish soil.

I was thinking the same thing. Hot wire is the answer.
If it is very dry you can set up a drip waterer just for the ground rod. Basically a bucket with a small hole. That way you create a damp patch for the grounding rod.

 

[ChaosMom]

Not my photo/coop but this is about the same size as the bigger goanna I have nearby. Luckily the bigger one can't squeeze into the run but the smaller ones between 3 to 4 foot long can get in and its these ones im trying to stop...

Holy crap!!!

I had to google - these are also known as monitor lizards. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goanna

Trying to be vaguely useful: we visited an organic farm in Cuba, right before Covid. Their chicken runs (and coops) were about a meter above ground to protect from snakes. Hardwire cloth flooring (hard on toes I realize) for protection and ventilation. But I don’t think that they had THESE guys!

 

[ChaosMom]

Also, our chicken run (a little over 2 meters in height) is completely wrapped in hardware cloth, walls and “ceiling”, with aprons on the surrounding ground against diggers.

If you could completely wrap your run, would that work? Other than the sheer weight of the thing (the goanna) bringing it crashing down.

 

[fowltemptress]

I would think the best bet would be turning that semi secure run into a secure one with hardware cloth and whatnot so those suckers can't squeeze in, the same way folks here build against weasel attacks.

 

[Island Coppers]

Just a thought, you know the "ground" doesn't have to be the literal ground. For example, if you were to connect the ground wire to the hardware cloth and had a hot wire on insulators where the goannas would touch it and the hardware cloth as they tried to enter the coop that would work just fine. Steel hardware cloth conducts electricity well, fence chargers use high voltage low amperage which would conduct through the limited resistance in hardware cloth easily.